


Humans at last

by Laufina



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Camp NaNoWriMo April 2020, F/M, Mature for swearing, Season 1, Slow Burn, Some Swearing, also i planned this when i was 17 so yeah it's kinda dumb sorry, i guess?, i saw only the first season, leo pov, lots of swearing in some chapters, mattie pov, not always
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 40,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24007705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laufina/pseuds/Laufina
Summary: Sometimes you let yourself hope for better things. But Leo doesn't do that. Leo has no hope for the future, because there's nothing nice waiting for him.Mattie wants to help. What else can she do? But no one wants her help, so she does her own thing without telling anyone.*Slow burn with both pov.
Relationships: Leo Elster/Mattie Hawkins
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Things were rough at school. But things were rough at home too. There wasn’t really a place where Mattie felt good. Where she felt safe. 

Even right now, sitting in a cute coffee shop with her friends, she felt out of place. As if no one wanted here there. Which was probably the case considering she hadn’t really been invited. She was there because Harun was there. It was with his friends that they were, really. 

But it was better than being at home, where she would always stay in her room to avoid her parents. They’d been arguing more and more, and she had been taking care of her siblings a lot more. Which wasn’t great. Everyone was on edge, and arguments had been even more frequent than before everything. 

She didn’t regret a single thing she did. She helped people. This was what she always wanted to do. If not, what was the point of her existence? 

Deep down, she knew it wasn’t a great way to see things, but she couldn’t really see any other. If not that, what would give her value in the eyes of others? Certainly not her many talents… Which were honestly inexistent at this point. 

She rubbed her face and focused on her computer again. Thinking about the past wouldn’t get her homework done. Not that it was hard, but it needed to be done. It was due in just 4 days.

After what seemed like an hour, but was really just 15 minutes, she was finally done. It was probably time to go home, but she decided to check the forum, just to see if there was anything new.

_Maybe a message._

\- Still checking that website? You’re going to get caught into something too big for yourself Mat…

Harun was frowning at her. He disliked the headcracker forum, he thought it would bring her problems. He didn’t know all the problems it had already brought, and she wasn’t ever going to tell him. Not that she told him much. 

\- By asking someone else to do my homework? Come on, no one at school is going to look there. 

He made a face, clearly thinking “we’ll talk about this later” but returned to his conversation with Alicia. The pretty new girl, who was constantly making heart-eyes at him, despite the fact that he’d been dating Mattie for almost 4 months. 

_Whatever_. 

When she got home that night, Mattie didn’t even bother thinking about the day she’d had. Nothing was going the way she wanted it to. It hadn’t for a long time really, but it never seemed to get better. Except during those few days, where everything was suddenly exciting, and dangerous, and filled with so many moments that she would never forget. People she would never forget. 

_Stop thinking about the past, you’re going to make yourself cry again._

She needed a plan. Shower. Pack for school. Check headcracker and get your heart broken. Dinner. Take care of Sophie while parents argue. Check forum and get your heart broken, again. Sleep. 

A good plan. Similar to every other evening for the longest time, but what else was new? 

When she checked the forum one last time before going to sleep, she had three message. One person asking for tutoring, one related to a post she had answered a few days earlier, and one from a bot that had since been deleted. 

None from him. As usual. 

Despite the time that had passed, the little flicker of hope she had when seeing a new message never died. It barely got smaller. Which was completely, utterly stupid. She hated herself for checking so often. She hated herself for trying to find reasons behind the silence. She hated herself for thinking he’d even think about her once. 

And yet, she kept checking multiple times a day.

She also started being an active part of the forum. She’d made a few friends, people she talked to on a semi regular basis. People from all around the world, that she’d never meet, never know the name of, the birthday, or anything personal. But it was alright, because they made her laugh, they made her forget how much life sucked, and they gave her projects to focus on. She answered questions when she could, helped people with their projects, taught the few things she knew. She didn’t always accept to tutor people or help on projects, only when it seemed to be legal enough. Maybe it was because Harun was worried. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to attract attention to her family again.

She’d made decent money from it, gotten a few things she wanted, and gave gifts to her siblings. Everyone needed to be cheered up from time to time, with the parents arguing all the time. It wasn’t easy for her either, but she was the big sister, and she had to take care of them. It was her fault after all. 

\- Mattie, move. 

Sighting softly, she turned off her computer and moved to give Sophie some space. She often wanted to sleep with her, and Mattie didn’t mind either. It was good to have someone to remind her that she was okay when she woke up from nightmares. They didn’t happen too often now, not as much as a few months ago. It was often a variant of the same dream.

Everyone was at home, usually in the kitchen and living room. People chatting, Sophie and Niska playing, Mattie and Leo on the kitchen counter. Working on something, she wasn’t sure what. She was focused, and suddenly, everything was silent. Everyone had disappeared. She was alone. She’d run, or try to, and often ended up in her school, at night. Everything was different but she knew it was her school. And then she’d start finding the bodies.

She hated the dream. She also noticed that it became more frequent when she was very stressed or very emotional. So she tried to keep her emotions in check, to make sure she didn’t lose too much sleep.

-You’re comfy? Good, keep your cold feets away from me okay? Night Soph, sweet dreams. 

\- Gnight Mattie. 

*

It was really awkward. Really, really awkward. And stressful too. 

\- I guess both of you know what’s going on.

\- You’re divorcing. 

Laura looked defeated. She was tired, wearing sweats, which almost never happened, and no makeup. She had requested the presence of Mattie and Toby, and it was something important. Sophie was watching cartoons on TV, unaware of the situation. 

\- Yes. Well, most of the paperwork is already done, so it will soon be over. I’m going to be moving out of the house very soon. I’ve found another job, it’s pretty far, north of Manchester. Sophie will be coming with me, but you two can both decide which parent you’re staying with. That can also change when you want, but there’s a delay, to change schools and everything. 

If she was honest, Mattie was not surprised. It didn’t seem like the relationship could be salvaged, it had only gotten worse and worse for the last few months. Her dad had spent a lot of nights somewhere else. Probably with a work friend, who knew. Not them. 

\- Can I be homeschooled? 

\- Why?

\- My year is almost over, all exams are online anyways, I don’t want to bother being lost in a new building and explaining to people why I have so many technical classes…

She had changed her curriculum mid year, and taken many technical classes. Web development, basic programming, advanced programming, programming ethics, all worth college credits. Her parents were delighted, but she had another goal in mind. She wasn’t sure it would get her a job, but she was ready to try, and more importantly, she wanted to use the knowledge for another purpose. Something much more important. Someone much more important. 

\- I’ll check with your school then. You’re sure this is what you want? 

\- Yeah, I’ll have more time to chat with friends that way as well.

To her surprise, her mom didn’t ask more questions, and Toby started with his. 

The relationship between Toby and Joe hadn’t been great. It really hadn’t improved, and it was unlikely that he’d stay with his dad. Still, he’d probably miss his friends more than she would. Maybe his girlfriend too, not that he’d ever admit having-

She’d have to tell Harun. 

_Oh god no._

That was not going to be fun. Definitely not. She could already see him, pouting like a 5 years old, trying to get her to stay with him at all times. Not that he really needed her, with all the attention he’d been getting from everyone else. 

She wasn’t sure what suddenly made him so popular among other students. She used to be one of his only friends, but now it was almost as if she was the intruder in the group. The one who didn't belong. But she wouldn’t be bothering him much longer. 

*

She texted Harun, asking to meet during the afternoon. She’d had a meeting with the head of her department about online classes, and he was more than happy to let her do it. It meant she wouldn’t transfer to another school and stop paying, so it didn’t really surprise her that much after all. She’d have to retake only one class, and most lectures were pre recorded so she wouldn’t even have to follow a strict schedule. It was perfect. Exactly what she’d been hoping for. 

**Harun** \- 11:04 “I gotta go to see Anthony after so not too long kay?”

**You** \- 11:05 “Sure, see you then, common room in building B okay for you?”

He gave no further response after that, despite the multiple messages she sent. That left her with three hours before her next class. Wonderful. The online classes would only start the following week, she still had to maintain attendance until then. Great. 

She found a spot in one of the libraries of her campus, and focused on homework for a total on 30 minutes before she was really bored. She had nothing against literature, but she just didn’t know what to say. How would she write 5 thousand words on a book she didn’t even like. She didn’t hate it either. She just really didn’t care about it. 

She opened the forum for the fifth time that day. 

_No messages._

Focusing on the timeline of posts, she decided to answer questions from other users. She had been making more and more contributions everyday, and that earned her a little badge, which she was very proud of. Active member everyday for three month. She had one for one month before that, but it wasn’t the same. 3 months meant it was something serious in her life. Something she cared about. 

_Totally not an unhealthy obsession over someone who’s forgotten my entire existence. Nope._

Something caught her attention. It was a post with no comment, a big paragraph of text, asking where to find a discontinued key used to get a synth code for update or repairs.

“ _... it was made for synth who didn’t turn on anymore due to a virus of some sort, but it was fixed and they discontinued the key. Anyone has one they want to sell? I got one of those synth but I’ve done some other mods on it and don’t want to be charged or…_ ”

\- Oh dear lord this is too good to be true. 

Quickly opening a new tab, her fingers hitting the key furiously, she typed the name of the key, and waited for the results. Crappy school connection, it had never been so slow. 

The first result was the Persona page, explaining the use of the key, and clearly stating it had been discontinued and was no longer sold at any official location. Obviously. 

Other pages included people talking about the results it produced, explaining how to use it, and other basic things. Official websites didn’t carry it. Any kind of supermarket didn’t carry it. Ebay had only one and it was broken. 

_I need one. This is the solution. It’s absolutely perfect._

_Accessing the code of a synth that couldn’t be turned on. This was absolutely ideal. She could use it on Fred if she was able to find one. She had to get her hands on one, no matter the price it may cost._

_*_

\- You’re going with her? Come on Mattie you’re not serious. 

\- Why not? You want me to stay with my dad? He’s never there anymore, he doesn’t talk to us, you don’t know how it is!

He scoffed and turned his back at her. He wasn’t taking it well. He really wasn’t. The one person who should have understood what it was like to want to leave their home. He kept complaining about his family, why couldn’t he understand how she felt about hers? 

\- I’ll still talk to you. I don’t want this to be over. 

_God I sound fake even to myself…_

She wasn’t even sure how she ended up here, trying to convince the both of them that she cared about their relationship. Did she, really? 

After they kissed that one time, things had been pretty awkward for a while. To him at least. She had other things to worry about, but she couldn’t really tell him about that. Then her life had felt even emptier than before. She wanted to feel things again. She wanted to know that there was something better at the end of all of this. At least a feeling of accomplishment. Who knew it would feel this bad. So when he’d asked her on a date, she said yes. Why not after all? Maybe it would make her feel something. And when he kissed her, she thought that maybe it had to be more serious than that for her to feel something. But it had been four months, and she didn’t really felt much more than on that first date. And if she was realistic, she was a bit of a trophy girlfriend. She was reasonably pretty, somewhat smart, and had a good reputation among other students. A bit of a daredevil, but nice when you ask nicely. So they’d started dating, and it felt nice. He cared about her, asked about her day, her interests, her plans. She felt included. That was new, and exciting, and it faded just as quickly as it started. Now it was more of something they were trapped in. She felt this way at least. But she didn’t want to go through the pain of a breakup. The pain of an argument. Like what seemed to be happening right now. 

\- Yeah, but will you come back? 

\- Of course! My dad is keeping the house. I can come for the weekend when I want. 

\- Sure. Why not. We're long distance now then? Great. We already didn’t have a lot of time together with all those techs you did… 

He turned to face her again, his face all closed. She wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never been like this before. 

\- I guess I’ll see you around.

Without waiting for her to answer, he just left.

_Well, that went well._

She didn’t even try to pretend she knew what was going to happen. Were they even together anymore? Hopefully. It wasn’t like she would just go and ask him. She had some pride. 

_Oh Alicia is going to be delighted when she hears about this._

*

\- Everything’s ready for you Mattie? 

\- Yep, just gotta make sure I’m not forgetting all my socks or something!

She’d packed all her things, she was ready. It didn’t feel like she’d have much left here anyway. Sure she’d miss her childhood bedroom, but she certainly wouldn’t miss the people. 

Joe had been around more. Maybe because it was going to be fully his house again. He didn’t comment on the fact that all the kids would be going with Laura. Not that he’d have anything useful to say that would make them change their minds.

She hadn’t talked to Harun since the day at school when she told him about the move. Since then, her life had been pretty lonely. Almost none of the people who pretended to be her friend wanted to talk to her now. It felt like she had broken up with Harun and now people blamed her. Maybe it was what had happened? She wasn’t really sure. But she wasn’t going to message him to apologize, that was sure. 

She’d kept hunting down one of the persona keys, hoping someone somewhere would be selling one. With that she’d be able to fix Fred and make up for the mess she’d made. 

Soon, she’d be ready, and she would make things right. Then, things would start to feel good again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello this is the first fic I finish and also the first one I post. I know it's not perfect but I had fun writing it and it's all that matters !  
> All the chapters are written and I will edit the last two tomorrow and post them :) it takes me a while to make sure the formatting is right but I have a lot of boring online classes so it's gonna be fine
> 
> I hope you're having a good time wherever you are in the world :)


	2. Chapter 2

\- Mattie please, come oooon!

She sighted. She’d never get a second of peace in this house.

\- Fine, fine! You sit shotgun. But I hope you have a better sense of orientation than you did in the past, because I’m not gonna help, that’s for sure. Come on Soph, got all your toys?

Toby didn’t seem worried by the perspective of looking at direction when they would inevitably get lost, instead focusing on the music he would play during the trip, already considering what his mom would accept and what would be veto-ed. Sophie was still somewhat innocent, and Laura wanted to preserve that.

Sophie was pretty happy. To her it felt like going on holiday, just without her dad. She was sad to leave her friends, but she didn’t fully realize how much of a change this would be. She had convinced Laura to register her for dance lessons, and that was all she thought about. 

Mattie was not very excited about the trip. It would have been a lot faster to take the train, but they just had to do the trip. 4 hours couldn’t be so bad? That was to reach Manchester, Laura wasn’t sure how much longer it would be after that. She’d decided to use the GPS because it wasn’t an area she’d often been to.

She wasn’t a fan of road trips of any kind really. Always longer than expected, and with siblings it was even less fun. Sophie got bored, Toby got cranky, her mom lost her patience. Not great. But there would be no journey back this time, so maybe it would be more tolerable.

She settled in her seat and put her headphones on. Sophie had a book to keep herself busy, and then a whole bag of toys. Toby had the music and his phone. She had her laptop and her phone. It would be fine. Only 4 hours. 

In the beginning, she tried to work. But she quickly realized that there was no use. She was just too distracted. She kept thinking about the key. She had put an offer on one very late the previous night, and was still waiting for an answer. It was a lot of money, but she would do anything for it. She’d already prepared a story of how she wanted to save her synth which was old but she was very attached to, and was ready to pay a lot for that to happen. She had also done some more tutoring for people, helping on various project, and also doing some homework for some of them. It wasn’t explicitly homework, but seeing how things were formatted, and the themes… it was hardly anything else.

She didn’t mind. It wasn’t like she was getting her homework done by someone else, and she was getting paid for it, so it was all good on her side. Sure they weren’t learning anything, but that wasn’t her problem. She’d be able to make lives better once she finally got that key. 

Once again, she checked the forum. Still nothing.

_Stupid hope._

_It just wouldn’t die. Despite the many months, the many tears, the many fits of anger. She kept hoping. When they first left, she thought about safety before anything else. There weren’t any reasons to message them. To message him. No matter how much she missed his brooding in her life._

It hadn’t been just that. When they were working together, she felt good. He understood her, in a way none of her friends or family did. He knew the things she talked about, he knew the challenges she could face, and he could help her when needed. She had learned so so so much. He learned a thing or two, and that made her really proud when it happened. When she was able to teach him something, or just tell him about a technology or another that would be perfect for what he was doing.

Sometimes, when it was late at night and they were the only ones still awake, they would talk a little bit. She liked making drinks, mostly cocoa, because it helped her stay awake and focused. In the beginning he always said no, but when she saw him eyeing her cup, she didn’t ask and just made him one. He didn’t protest, so after that each time she made herself a cup, she made one for him too. Laura was surprised by the amount of milk the family was suddenly drinking, when only one of their guest needed food, and was often difficult.

When everything went back to normal, as normal as it could feel, she had secretly hoped that they would stay in contact. Maybe not too often, or with extra security, but still. She wanted to have some news. To know how they were doing. If they were even alive. After three days, she caved and sent him a message. A simple one, asking for some news, nothing too personal. And since then, she’d been waiting for an answer. 

There was no way he didn’t see it. Even if the forum didn’t have a way to know if someone read a message or not, she wasn’t dumb. There was no way he didn’t read it. After four months. 

She silently cursed herself. She was just running around in circles again. Nothing would change. He didn’t care. He had just used her, like everyone else, and once she wasn’t useful anymore he forgot about her.

_So surprising._

Raising the volume of her music once more, she opened her laptop, and found the document in which she wrote all her ideas on how to fix Fred. After two weeks of waiting for an answer from Leo, she decided that she would do it herself. So she created a folder, then a text document, and started by pouring out all of her theories and ideas. After a little bit of organizing, it was somewhat useful. Then she researched every theory she could, sometimes looking at Mia’s code that she still had to look for one thing or another. The problem was that it was way too dense for one person to understand. How David Elster made all of that, she had no idea. And not just once, but many times. 

For a long time, it had only been theories. Most of them ran into some kind of complication. This or that would erase most of the useful memories. This or that was something that required to completely switched to a new language, which was just a stupid idea. This or that was too risky and could potentially erase everything, not just the memories but all the abilities.

A complicated problem. One that no one should have to deal with on their own. But here she was. Thinking still about what to do once she got the code from Fred. 

Because getting it was only the first issue. Then she still needed to fix it. It’s what she had been focusing on for so long because she knew there was no way of getting it without turning him on. But now that there was a way, she still had to figure out how to return him to normal. And it still wasn’t easy. It wasn’t like Hobb’s code would be written in bold red. 

_But maybe there’s a way…_

If there was a way to find out a history of the changes, maybe there was also a way to access them. It would mean a lot of research. From what she knew, there was no file with a list of changes in Mia’s code. But maybe there was and she just hadn't seen it. It was such a complex arborescence that she hadn’t explored it all yet. There were just so many files. She could never read that all on her own. 

_I’m gonna have to though._

The main problem was that the code didn’t seem to be organized in any way. Sure, files had clear relation with others, everything worked fine, and if she moved anything, it would all collapse. But it didn’t follow any form of logic. It seemed to just be randomly placed. Files were next to each other in no particular order. Maybe in order of creation? It surely wasn’t alphabetical, or size based. She just didn’t understand any of it. Oh how she would have loved to just organize it all and have a clear directory where she could explore every little file one after the other. But life rarely goes the way you want it to… 

\- Mattie, did you hear? 

Uh oh.

\- Sorry, I was listening to something. 

\- Yeah, we guessed. We want to stop somewhere to have lunch. Anything you want? Toby voted for asian, and Sophie is undecided. Maybe you can help us pick.

She mulled over the decision for a couple seconds. What kind of food was she feeling like having? 

\- I’d like asian too, if little Soph doesn’t mind me eating all the ice cream they have for desert.

\- You can’t do that!

\- Why not? 

Sophie was giving her a frightening glare, not very happy at the idea that her sister would eat all the ice cream. 

\- They won’t let you!

\- We’ll see about that little monster, I’m sure I can charm them with my smile. 

Sophie only stuck out her tongue before returning to her toys, seemingly unconcerned by the perspective of no ice cream. She probably knew Mattie was just teasing her, as she didn’t like ice cream all that much anyway. The only good flavors were vanilla and peanut butter. And never together. 

\- Okay, well stop soon then. Toby please never play that song again. 

And so they did. They got lost a couple times, and Laura had to admit that her son wasn’t as bad with directions as everyone previously thought he was. 

When they were ordering the food, Mattie realized that’s she didn’t take the same thing as usual for once. She would have smiled, if her order hadn’t changed because of a special someone…

One night, when they had planned to work late again, Laura had decided that no one at home really felt like cooking, and so they would get take out. And so her and Mia had ordered a whole bunch of food, even though Leo was the only one who was eating out of all the synths.

Turns out, he’d never tried Asian food. Which was absolutely crazy to her. How did he live so long without knowing how glorious and delicious it was? Her family mostly didn’t like spicy things, but she did, and it turned out that he did too, even if he wouldn’t say it. They way his eyes lit up and he almost smiled was enough for her to tell. 

Maybe she should learn to make some of this, she would look it up in the car. There had to be some that was easy enough for her to make. That would help associate it to something new, a better memory.

Or maybe she wouldn’t, and she would keep associating asian food to him for the rest of her life. Or until she forgot about him. 

_Unlikely._

I wasn’t like she didn’t want to, but she kept thinking about him every day, when she really didn't want to. It seemed unlikely that it would stop any time soon. Especially since there wouldn’t be any new people to distract her fro mall of it. Unless he decided to go to college. But that was an entire thing she also didn’t want to think about. 

_If only I could just filter the things I’m willing to think about…_

So for the rest of the journey, she focused on researching various solutions for Fred, not letting herself get distracted of the articles and forums she was reading. Better do this than put herself down on everything that was going wrong. 


	3. Chapter 3

The house was everything she’d expected, and completely different at the same time. 

It felt a whole lot more spacious than it looked. Three floors, six bedrooms, a big open kitchen and a cozy living room. What else could she ask for ?

The original plan was that everyone got their own bedroom on the second floor. But that soon went out the window when she saw the rooms on the third floor. Well, mostly one room.

It was spacious, even though it wasn’t big. The ceiling was high in half the room, and the slowly followed the slope of the roof, still remaining at a decent height. There was a closet in the wall, and a big double bed pushed against a wall, under a roof window. That way, the person laying on the bed could be watching the stars at night, or listening to the rain really close. It also let a lot of light into the room, not that she really cared about that. She would probably be mostly nocturnal, being homeschooled.

It was perfect.

She didn’t even bother asking her mom if she could take it, she just started to drop her things there. She would have very strong legs by the end of this… 

\- Mattie ? Ah, here you are. 

Laura was half covered in dust, and her hair was a mess. But she looked weirdly happy in this strange situation.

\- I see you changed your bedroom. Well, as you want, but you’ll do the cleaning, I’m not carrying a vacuum to this floor. 

\- Sure! I wasn’t going to take Sophie’s playroom, she would never forgive me.

Laura smiled, and walked across the room to open the window. It was pretty dusty, and even if she wasn’t a cleaning freak, she had her limits.

\- All the boxes are downstairs, good luck carrying your stuff up here. Help Sophie a little if you have the time would you? I’m going to go shopping with Toby to get the essentials. If you have anything you need text him, he’s making the list. 

The boxes had been delivered during the morning, and placed in the study that was on the first floor. When making them she had just shoved all her belongings in them without worrying about organization, and she was starting to regret it. 

Despite the closet, the room she had didn’t come with much storage, and she’d have to move furniture from other places in the house. 

She wondered if she could take some from the other rooms on her floor, and decided to explore those.

The first door lead to a small bathroom, with a toilet, a walk in shower, and a really small sink. Could probably be her private bathroom, but it would realistically be used by the others during the rush in the morning. Toby and his hour long showers…

The second one had a paper on the door that read “Heating not working, keep door closed!”.

She still went in, taking in the room that was a mirror of hers, with the two small beds. There also happened to be a pretty light wooden shelf that she moved to her room. She didn’t really like the bedside table she had, so she swapped it with the one from the second bedroom and closed the door. No need to go in there anymore for the day. Maybe it would be useful for storage…

This house could fit in a lot more people that she thought. If it hadn’t been so remote, they could never have afforded it, especially since Laura was on a single income. That would be something she could help with for sure, even if her mom would never let her.

something she could help with for sure, even if her mom would never let her.

She wasn’t an idiot, she knew her mom probably didn’t get paid a whole lot, even with a prestigious diploma and experience in one of the leading law firm of the country. It wasn’t like this place needed her really. She’d moved here because she wanted to be far from Joe and all their memories together. 

But the house was big and probably expensive, and if Laura had savings, they wouldn’t last forever. But Mattie could do some tutoring and other odd jobs, and make sure she didn’t burden her mom more than necessary. Maybe she could even slip some money to her siblings sometimes. She would have to find a way to make that work.

Her first mission was to decorate her room.

_Oh shit Sophie._

She’d forgotten she was supposed to help her sister with her boxes of toys.

Running down the stairs, she hoped that her sister hadn’t tried to do it on her own, as it was the perfect setup for disaster. She wasn’t a baby, but she certainly couldn’t carry a big box full of toys. 

Sophie had pretty much chosen her bedroom, and since no one had complaints, she was just there, playing with the toys she already had brought in the car. She didn’t seemed bothered by the dust and the pretty old furniture, as well as the half closed curtain blocking most of the light.

\- Hey Soph, ready to bring all your boxes in here ?

The little girl almost jumped to the ceiling, dropping all the toys and accidentally knocking down the little tower she’d been building out of Barbie accessories.

\- The little girl almost jumped to the ceiling, dropping all the toys and accidentally knocking down the little tower she’d been building out of Barbie accessories.

\- Maybe, but first we have to find all you things. Did you write your name on the boxes ?

She shook her head. _Oh boy, this is going to take forever._   


It did take a long time, but after an hour, Laura and Toby came back, and Mattie offered to take care of the groceries while Laura helped her youngest. Mattie loved her sister, but she had a low tolerance to the fact that she always lost focus after just a minute. 

While she helped Toby unload and put away the groceries, she wondered how he felt about all this. It wasn’t like they would have a heart to heart any time soon, but she was still worried about him. 

He hadn’t been talking to their dad a whole lot, and that was the biggest change. He was really, really angry about the whole situation, and teenage angst didn’t help. She couldn’t say she was much better, but she hid it better. 

Hopefully he’d like it here. It wasn’t exactly what he dreamed of, being more of a city boy. Maybe he would adapt, maybe he would crash. Oh how she wish she’d be able to tell the future… 

But for now, she’d have to settle into the house, and go back to decorating her bedroom.

She knew she would have to spend most of her time there and she wanted it to be comfy. Ideally, she’d have a separate space for work, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think she could use two bedrooms. Working in any common area was out of the question, as there would always be someone there to ask her to do something. And she hated it when people disturbed her flow state.

In the early evening, after everyone had dinner in the kitchen, her mom helped her carry a desk from Sophie’s bedroom into her own, as well as a chair from the dining room, until she could get a proper one.

First thing she did was move the shelf she brought earlier, to put the desk in its place. She hesitated a long time to switch the bed with the desk, but ultimately decided that she’d love to watch the stars on the bed and not from her desk, from which she would probably never look up. 

Then she impulse bought a whole bunch of tiny glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars, which were shaped like little dots, and googled the nearest store where she could get some dark blue paint. They were allowed to paint the walls as well as drill into them, and she was going to take full advantage of that. And what was the point of having her own room if she didn’t decorate it like she wanted to? Sophie would probably love it once it was done. Hopefully she wouldn’t want the same in her room, because putting the stickers up one time would take long enough.

By the time she’d looked at the internet for hours, it was well into the night, but she still wasn't tired. She decided that she might as well start to unpack everything, not just the necessities, and got started. 

She didn’t label her boxes, and didn’t even bother to sort anything when she packed.

The first boxes was full of school supplies, and old assignments. She decided to go through it later and pushed it into the hallway, to be put in the spare bedroom the next day. She was lazy and it was cold. 

The second box contained a lot of clothes, that she folded and put into the big closet, as well as some books, that she put on the shelf as best as she could. 

The third box was full of more school supplies, but also memory items, such as an old diary and some photos. 

By the time she opened the fourth box, it was already two in the morning. She was tired and unfocused, but she couldn’t bring herself to go to sleep. She simply didn’t want to. It didn’t keep the memories away, as she would dream of the events, or of her parents, which she’d rather forget about. 

Despite the facade, she was heartbroken. She’d been smart enough to realize things weren’t going great for a while, long before the Elsters came into their lives. It had just been the one thing too many. She thought it would be her dad getting a synth, but it wasn’t. In the end, things fell apart.

Just like they always did, and always would. 

Her phone made a sound, from an email notification.

It had been a long time since she looked at her phone and her messages. Or the absence or messages from a certain person. She still didn't have any news from Harun, but she didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t even say anything about the fact that she left that day. Or rather the previous day. 

And she tried to ignore it, but at 2 am it was impossible to ignore the ache in her chest, from all the things that were going wrong, all the things that would go wrong in the future. 

It wasn’t like she’d ever be able to fix Fred. It wasn’t even certain that she would get the key she needed to even just try. Would the person even send it? And after that, would she be able to retrieve the code like planned? And to miraculously get rid of everything Hobb did? 

Almost on muscle memory, she opened the forum. Her heart rate got faster when she noticed the notification for two new messages, but she tried to calm herself down. It was probably for more tutoring or some questions or another. 

She clicked. 

Both were from a post where she’d offered to help on projects. Homework, one paid, the other not. She accepted the first one and asked the second how much he was willing to spend for her time. 

Still nothing from him.

_Probably for the best._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pretty much fell out of bed, cleaned, and then made this, so there's probably formatting mistakes. Sorry!

\- You have everything you need? You’re sure? If anything goes wrong call me okay?

\- Mom I’ll be fine. It’s just for the weekend, okay? Chill.

Mattie kissed her mom on the cheek and walked into the train station, relieved to finally be alone. Her mom had been stressed about the fact that her daughter would be going alone to London, unsupervised. But Mattie was old enough to travel on her own and do her thing. It wasn’t like she was going to another country or something crazy. It was just London. 

She’d been planning this for a few days, since receiving the key. 

It was brand new, just like the post said, and she would be the very first one to use it on a conscious synth. Hopefully, it wouldn’t fuck anything up. 

She’d gotten her train tickets, told her mom she was going to visit friends, told her dad she would be staying at the house, over text, and told Harun she’d be around. To which he didn’t answer for two days before saying “ k, ill see u”. Which was a start. She didn’t push for more details, because she frankly couldn’t care less about him at the moment.

She had the key, she was going to go to Fred, get his code, and go right back home. Lost in their little village, where no one knew her and could tell the government about her. It wasn’t like she’d have any reason to go outside anyways. She didn’t plan on making friends or talk to the neighbors. 

When the train reached London, the first thing she did was go to a coffee shop to get a big cup of warm coffee, and a few pancakes. She hadn’t had breakfast that morning, and it had been a mistake. 

Her next stop was her old house, where she would meet with her dad for lunch, which hopefully wouldn’t be too awkward, and then go to “meet friends”. Really she would go to Fred. Her train was scheduled Sunday at 3:40, which was a bit late, but it was also the cheapest one, and the excuse was meeting friends and spending as much time with them as possible, so it wasn’t really like she could stay here just two hours. 

Walking around made her realize how much she missed the city. The new place was great, but there were so many things here. So many people just going on about their lives, shopping, walking with friend or a dog. God she missed seeing so many dogs. Her parents had always refused that they had a pet, and no amount of crying and begging ever changed that. Maybe she should try again, after all she was home all day long, she could care for a pet when needed. 

_Wait is that…?_

Harun. 

Well, wasn’t that the perfect surprise? Without even wondering what he was doing here, she started walking towards him. She also didn’t realize how much she’d missed him. It wasn’t like she had many other friends she used to talk to on a daily basis. 

Seeing him turn and laugh with someone made her stop dead in her tracks. Who was that girl? And..? Were they holding hands? 

Suddenly, Mattie saw red. She instantly thought about all the times she’d been left on the side, when she hadn’t been heard, when she hadn’t been invited. She remembered all the little things that made her though that maybe this relationship wasn’t really worth it and maybe there was something better for her out there. 

\- So much for wanting me to come for the weekends huh? I see you’ve replaced me pretty quickly. Well I guess know what it means. 

Almost jumping out of his skin, Harun turned to look at her. 

\- Mattie? But you’re supposed to come next weekend…

\- I’m not. And seeing the situation I definitely won’t be coming back again any time soon. Goodbye. 

She turned her back to him and started walking to what she knew was the nearest subway station that would take her to her dad’s house. She couldn’t believe it. That idiot! That absolute awful guy! Doing that to her! If they’d clearly broken up then sure, whatever he wanted. But they were still somewhat dating! They hadn’t talked a lot, mostly because he’d been ignoring her, and now she knew the reason!

\- Mattie wait!

\- No. No Harun I’m not gonna stay there and listen to your stupid excuses and reasons and whatever. You wanna find someone new? Fine, but at least be honest to me and to her. Because from what you last said to me, we were still dating. You’re just a real piece of shit like everyone else ! 

Feeling the tears coming, she took a big inspiration. 

\- We’re done. And don’t try messaging me with excuses or whatever. We’re done.

Not giving him any opportunity to answer, she walked to the station, took the subway, and went home. She still had they keys and knew her father wasn’t home yet. 

What an absolute failure that was her life. No friends, a cheating boyfriend, a broken family, and no hope for the future. 

She’d have all the time to cry when she went back home. Instead of dwelling on what had just happened she decided to go to her old room, and sort through some more belongings. She’d been wanting to read lately, but hadn’t taken any of her favorite books with her for some reason. She didn’t think that packing them would be the thing to do, which made absolutely no sense at all. 

Just like she expected, lunch was awkward. If she was being honest, she wasn’t in the best state of mind to have quality time with anyone, her dad of all people. They didn’t have that much in common before, and now things were extra difficult with the divorce and the move.

But he made efforts, and she was grateful for that. Not many people still made efforts when it came to her. 

Pretexting a headache, she went back to her room after lunch, and couldn’t help but check the forum, probably for the tenth time that day. With getting the key and planning the trip, she’d been checking it more and more. There was no way he’d ever know about her progress, since she’d promised herself not to send anything, but maybe he’d think about her some day. 

Probably not, but she could always dream. What else did she have? 

She had wondered for a long time if she should tell him about they key and her plan. But since he hadn’t answered before, she thought there was no point. Why scream into the void? So she hadn’t. If she could manage to get the code and fix it, then she would contact him. Only then. Her chances were pretty small, and she wasn’t sure if she’d inject the code back into Fred if she had fixed it without their consent. But that was a problem for later. Maybe her ethics would go down the drain by then, and she’d just try it. 

In the end, night came and she still hadn’t moved from her bed. She’d cried quite a lot but it didn’t make her feel better. She’d considered texting some friends, before realizing that they probably all knew about Harun and the other girl. They all went to school together. Did he tell them that they were no longer together? Did he blame it on her? The probably all hated her now. 

Her dad didn’t ask questions, which she was grateful for, and she changed her train to be at 11:35 the next day. It was more expensive, but she didn’t feel like pretending anyway. She’d go see Fred in the morning, and then be on her way. She explained to her dad that the friend she wanted to see had to visit her grandma last minute, and that she would be on her way earlier than planned, and he didn’t try to make her feel guilty for not having lunch with him again, despite the way his face fell a little before he caught himself.

That night, she dreamt of school, of always being late and missing her class, running after her friends who were moving onto the next one, and never catching up with them. She didn’t wake up feeling good, but she knew that when she went back, she’d have her ceiling full of little stars to look at when she couldn’t sleep. 

She enjoyed walking in the busy streets and going into various shops one last time, getting some little gifts for her siblings - a colorful diary for Sophie, and a comic for Toby - before going to Fred. She wasn’t sure if there’d be anyone there, but she wanted to look like someone who was just visiting, and not someone who might have something illegal on her mind.

Then finally, after about 15 minutes of looking around, she slipped into the room where he was hidden. Everything looked untouched, which was good. She wondered if people ever got here to smoke or drink, or even to tag the walls. She couldn’t see any traces of that ever happening, but it was unlikely that no one ever came there. 

The area still had that eerie feeling that she couldn’t quite understand. There wasn’t really anything special to it, but she felt weird when she was there. She didn’t say anything the first time, obviously, but being alone made it so much worse. Maybe she should have told Toby...But then he couldn't have refrained from telling someone else, and everyone would have known. She couldn’t have them know about this. It was her project. Her thing. 

Carefully lifting the plastic, she prepared herself for potential spiders. She wasn’t really scared, but she hated them with a passion. 

Under there, she found nothing. 

_What the fuck?!_

Where the hell was Fred?

She did a double take, then got up and looked around. Maybe this wasn’t the right place? Or her memory tricked her and they put him in a different hiding spot? 

For the next half hour, she frantically looked around, turning every little piece of litter she could find, trying every door, looking into every nook.

There was no Fred. 

_Fuck. Where’s he gone? Did he get taken? Did Hobb find him? Did he find them?_

As the panic filled her, she walked to the train station. She wasn’t very far, so walking would help clear her mind. She had no more time to look around, and she was angry with herself for moving her train. couldn’t she have waited? Now she was in a rush, and she didn’t even have what she came here for. 

She saw only two options. Forget about the whole thing, or try to contact the Elsters - again - to tell them what had happened. Which she really didn’t want to do, but they deserved to know. How would they find him? Anyone could have taken him and turned him into a worker or even used his pieces to fix other synths. 

This was bad.

But she knew she’d never be able to forget about it and let it go. Not after everything she’d invested into this. Not with how much she wanted to see him back, even if she didn’t know him for a long time. 

Sitting down on the train, she made up her mind.

She opened her laptop, connected it to her phone’s wifi, and went on the forum.

**HuBot97** \- We need to talk ASAP, 07700 900 675 secured number, call me if you can, text at least please

She really hoped that he would read it, because she had no idea how she could contact them any other way. 

_Come on Leo, even if you don’t want to hear from me anymore, this is important…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooops I missed uploading for like, two days? Trying to learn how to sew. Anyway, enjoy!

If he was honest with himself, it was unlikely that he’d ever solve this. He’d been looking for a solution for months, to no avail. 

It seemed that he just wasn’t smart enough. 

The possibility of not being able to help his brother had been a hard one to accept. They’d been in hiding for a while, and he had nothing else to do other than worry about that. 

_And think about her._

Which he tried to avoid as much as possible. Because no matter how much time it had been, it still felt… complicated.

He had no other words for it. He didn’t know how he really felt. When they had all been there, it almost felt good. Like he could stay and be content. Not happy, he didn’t think that was possible anymore, but maybe somewhat enjoy the days as they passed. But of course, that’s not how it went. Life wasn't kind like that. It didn’t give you what you wanted. It kept taking the good things away from you, laughing in your face as it did.

Thinking of life as a person made him feel better. It meant that one day, he could get his revenge, one way or another. Which would be pretty nice. 

Now life was back to normal. Well, what he considered normal at least. Running, hiding, trying to find a solution to all of their problems, which didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. The regular fun! 

A notification popped on his screen, making him realize he’d been ignoring his correspondant. 

Quickly typing his answer, he wondered if there was someone out there who could ever help him. It wasn’t like he didn’t want their help, should that person exist, but he’d like to know how to find them. 

**You** \- Sure. Tell me if you find something. Payment same as usual. 

He had been requesting help from a variety of people, trying to avoid the websites where he’d already gone before all the events with the Hawkins. He didn’t want to put them in danger again. It had already been a huge risk, and he made sure to be extra careful now. Not that he wasn’t before, but he’d learn even more about online security, and he used many codes and encryption mechanism for his most important correspondances. He couldn’t just put anyone in danger again. The guilt was already hard enough to deal with.

He’d considered helping them, one way or another. Be it remove traces of them from public databases, where Hobb put them, or helping with anything else he could think of. He could do a lot with the internet. But he refrained from it, because they certainly didn’t want his help. He still kept an eye on the news and police reports, in case something happened to them. He also had alerts on their names, just in case. He was better prepared than he’d ever been.

And yet. 

Things felt like shit. He felt like shit. He’d never felt so lonely, despite most of his family being at his side. 

He hated to admit it, but being with new people was good. Even if he didn’t really like the adults of the family, and even if Sophie was annoying most of the time, and Toby was unsure and moody, and Mattie could see right through him, it had felt like a breath of fresh air. Like things could change for the better. He liked it. He really like it. He tried to keep his distances, of course he did, but secretly, he enjoyed every second of it. The way Laura looked at him with hardness in her eyes when he refused to try something she’d cooked, the way Mattie silently made him hot chocolate even if he never dared to ask, the way Sophie let anyone play with her even if she didn’t really want them to, the way Toby was always ready to listen to others talking about their interests. They were good people, and he wanted to get to know them more. He didn’t need to ask a million questions, just to look at them.

Really look at them. The way they interacted, their faces when they thought no one was looking at them, the way they talked to each other. Despite the tension between Laura and Joe, they all loved each other, it was obvious.

Often, he’d felt like an outsider, but he was grateful for the way everyone kept reaching out to him, even if he rarely answered. They kept asking him to take part in activities, to give his opinion on things like meals or movies, to be an active part of the family. Just like they had done with the synths, they had tried their best to include him and make him feel welcome. 

He was forever grateful for that, and he held every memory of the time spent at their house close to his heart. 

Maybe one day he’d find a way to live like this again. Hopefully he’d get to see them again.

_To see her again._

But for now, he had to find a way to help his brother, and maybe later he could change the situation of the whole family. Stop them from running and hiding. Find a way to settle somewhere and be happy. It would have been great to experience this more often. The feeling of safety. Even if they were sometimes left alone by the world for a few days or weeks, it was never completely safe. He was human, at least partly. he needed food and water and rest and he hated it. 

But it meant he could dream about them being happy sometimes. It was mostly nightmares, so he avoided sleep like the plague. But sometimes, when he was at his limit, his mind would give him one nice dream. And often it was enough to push him for a couple days. to give him hope for the future. 

He focused on his screen again, opening a new tab, looking for a solution. He couldn’t just let this situation drag on for eternity. It wasn’t like things were going to improve on their own, no matter how much he would have like it. 

He needed a real night of sleep, some time away from his screen, a more healthy life. He needed a lot of things. But it would have to wait, he couldn’t lose more time than he already had. Who knew what the consequences would be? 

Fred first, the rest later. 


	6. Chapter 6

When the train arrived at the last station, Mattie felt more calm. She wasn’t relaxed, but she certainly felt better than at the beginning of the journey. 

She’d had quite a lot of time to think about everything that had happened over the last 24 hours. 

She’d written a couple angry messages to Harun, deleting them before sending them. She considered texting friends about it, but ultimately didn't. She thought about sending another message to Leo, but she knew there was no use. When she had data, she kept refreshing the forum, hoping for a message. Her phone was in her pocket on vibrate, just in case. 

She had hope that he would answer, just like she did the first time she sent a message. She knew it would slowly fade but never disappear, but this time she really needed him to answer. It wasn’t just because she missed him, it was important. I was bigger than her and her stupid feelings, this was about their safety, all of them. 

When she found her mom, she knew she would have to explain why she was back so early, and why she looked so off. 

Laura waited until they were home with a cup of tea to ask, which was very nice of her. Matie always had that thing were car made her want to stay silent, and she was terrible company.

She didn’t want to tell her mom about the real reason for her trip .not yet. not until Leo hopefully answered. She could always hope that he would since she had tried to give a sense of urgency to her message. 

But she still needed to explain. She’d have to tell her mom the truth about Harun. She wasn’t looking forward to it. she never clearly admitted they were dating, no matter the fact that Laura had asked a couple times. 

She didn’t want her parents to play any kind of role in her sentimental life. She’d gotten enough winks and meaningful looks from them when the Elsters where staying with them. She never wanted to live that again, and she didn’t want to answer any questions either. 

But now she had no choice. And so she told her mom what had happened. how they pretty much fought when she told him they were moving. How she saw him with that girl, that she didn’t even know the name of. Not that she wanted to. 

They talked about Harun for several hours. Mattie didn’t expect to have so much to say about it, but she’d been ignoring her feelings for a while now. 

\- It’s just… I felt like maybe it was the right thing to do? Maybe after a while I’d love him? But I didn’t…

\- Sometimes it’s hard to leave a relationship even if you don’t love the person you know. Because you’re used to the way things are, and it can feel like a failure too. But I promise it’ll get better. It’s probably going to take a lot of time, so be patient. 

They had made tea and opened a box of chocolate. Laura didn’t like her kids eating too much sugar, but she knew when chocolate was necessary. Especially for Mattie, who liked it more than anyone else in the family. 

\- The worst part is that I feel so bad, but I don’t even miss him. It’s just, I don’t care about him but it feels so wrong. I don’t even know what he told the other girl. Did she know? Did she think we had split and it was fine?

Laura could offer no answer, and when Mattie finally went to bed that night, she cried more than she was willing to admit. 

When she woke up the next morning, she felt better about it. Maybe she’d forget faster than her mom expected. The stress of not finding Fred was still very much there, and there was no answer from Leo.

_What a surprise._

She remembered what he looked like, and the only option she could see was look for him anywhere where synths were sold. 

_That’s gonna be fun._

Of course Persona was supposed to be the only one allowed to sell them, but everyone knew it was possible to get them on the black market. Sometimes people also sold them at auctions or other events of that type. And if she was unlucky and he’d been sent into some form of service, like in a hospital, she’d never find him. Maybe if she had a picture… But it was too risky, Hobb could find her that way. 

_Tricky shit you got yourself into Matilda._

She made herself a big coffee, quickly checked if she had anything due that day, and decided that since nothing was urgent it would wait a couple more days. It wasn’t like any teacher would care. They didn’t like offering online classes and did it only because the school required it. 

When she sat down in front of her laptop, she wondered if this would lead anywhere or if she was only tricking herself into thinking it would work. It was such a long shot. Everything had been, but this more than anything else. Maybe she should just forget about it. 

But she just couldn’t. Especially now that she felt responsible for all that had happened. Of course it wasn’t her fault that people were mean and afraid of anything they didn’t understand. But still. It was little bit her fault. That and destiny, or the universe, or whatever force out there decided this was how things would go. 

She grabbed a block of post it she bought during her little shopping in London, before everything happened. They were decorated with cute flowers, and she decided they would make her desk that much cuter. She’d also gotten a lot of stickers to decorate her laptop, and a few pens. 

Decorating and making things look nice had been an obsession after the Elsters left. Make it seem like everything is fine. Learn to do better makeup, to dress nicely, to make your notes cute. The ones she wasn't allowed to take on her laptop were colorful and nice. She never looked at them after taking them, but at least they looked good. It made her feel better sometimes. When everything was neat, organized, pretty, it meant her life wasn’t that bad. That she was in control. 

It also helped a whole lot to make teachers and the administration change their opinion on her. She’d pretended to be a changed person, when she really wasn’t, and it fooled them all. 

When her list of all the places where she could look was done, she looked at it. 

Really looked at it. 

It wasn’t very long, and the probability of a success was so low. 

She knew it was no use to check the forum or her phone. She would know if he messaged her, it would make a sound. And it hadn’t. There was no point hoping it would. 

She wiped a tear from her cheek and got to work. 

She had to find Fred. She didn’t do all of this for nothing. And when she did find him, she would then find a way to get to him. and she would fix this, no matter what it took. 


	7. Chapter 7

After too many days without sleep, he finally caved, and decided to ask for help to the one person who knew the details of this.

For months, he had resisted. He didn’t want to intrude in her life, their lives, anymore. He had caused them enough problems, and who knew if they were even safe now. 

But she knew as much as he did, and she had been really helpful before, and he knew she would have a way of looking at this that he would never have thought of. 

So he looked through his memory to try and find his password for the forum, and after a couple tries he got it right. It was the only way he could thin kof to contact her without looking too much into her personal life. He knew she had a variety of social medias, and he knew some of her handles on there, but looking would have been too hard. 

What struck him first was the change in interface. Much cleaner, much easier to use. That and the lack of “register” option, the forum now invitation based. Maybe someone vouched for him so his account didn’t get deleted. 

The second thing was the amount of messages he had. 

When he clicked, he immediately knew something was wrong. There were two messages from Mattie’s account. The most recent one dating back three days ago. 

**HuBot97** \- We need to talk ASAP, 07700 900 675 secured number, call me if you can, text at least please

_What the fuck?_

Did something happened to them? Maybe Hobb found them, and it was the only thing she had time to send? But then it would make no sense to include a phone number. 

_Where even is my phone?_

Jumping from his seat, and almost falling flat on his face, he started to look through his room, pushing things in every direction, trying to find the phone he knew he had somewhere. He used it so little that he didn’t even know where it was.

\- Leo, everything’s alright? 

He almost jumped out of his skin, surprised by his mom’s soft voice coming from behind the door. 

He rushed to it and opened it, coming face to face with her. She looked worried.

\- Do you know where my phone is?

\- Yeah, you left it in the other room some time ago, do you- 

\- I need it, got a message from the Hawkins, urgent.

He walked past her, into the room that Max and Mia shared, and she followed him. Without waiting, she found the phone and handed it to him.

\- What does it say? The message? 

\- Just that it’s urgent. Should I call? It’s almost three. 

\- Call anyways. If no one answers leave a message, okay? If they need us we have to help them.

\- I know. 

She nodded to him, and he went back to his own room. Max hadn’t been there. He had been spending most of his time outside, trying to learn more about the different animals living around the place. 

They were in an old building, completely abandoned. They liked to call it a castle. He thought it dated back to victorian times, but he wasn’t quite sure. He didn’t know much about that to be honest. The roof was in terrible state, and there was no heating. A fireplace was available in both of the rooms they were using, but he didn’t want to attract people with the smoke. They’d been stealing electricity from a neighbor, more than a mile away, which had been a challenge. It was far from everything, and it felt pretty safe. He knew that eventually they’d have to move, but he didn’t want to. In a way, it was theirs now. 

He made sure everything was secured before inputting the number she’d given him, breathing hard and trying not to think about everything that could have happened. A message like this wasn’t good. 

It rang for such a long amount of time that he thought no one would pick up.

\- Fucking… I swear if you call me one more time I’ll change my number for fuck’s sake! 

\- Mattie are you all right? 

A long silence followed. 

\- Holy shit, Leo?

\- Yeah.

\- I’ve been waiting for days! Oh my god I can’t believe you actually called me. You got my message? Stupid question of course you did, didn’t-

\- Mattie what’s the problem? What’s going on? 

She was a little breathless, but mostly she was awake at three in the morning, which in itself wasn’t great. Was school still a thing? He wasn’t even sure what day it was. 

\- Okay don’t get mad, but I went to London, where we left Fred. I have a persona key, the one they made when they had this virus thing, and he wasn’t there! It just, I looked everywhere but he’s not there anymore! I don’t know who took him, I’ve been researching on like websites where they sell modified synths and all that, but I just can't find him and I don’t know what to do or what happened but I had to tell you because-

\- Why did you got there? What’s that key you have? What the fuck? 

She was silent once again, but he could almost hear the wheels turning in her head, even though she was hundreds of kilometers away. 

\- You’re not surprised. You knew already. You knew that Fred wasn’t there, but you’re not worried so no one took him. Am right, am I?

\- Yeah I knew. We went back there like a month or two ago, I’m not entirely sure what day it is to be honest, and we took him with us. Why did you go there? It’s dangerous, someone could have seen you! 

\- Why didn’t you tell me? Did you find a way to undo what Hobb did? You probably did. Ah well, not gonna bother you anymore then. 

He almost though she would hang up there and then. He didn’t want her to hang up .He wanted to keep talking to her, even if she was angry and disappointed. He needed her help, he had to make that clear. 

At least there was no emergency on their safety, so that was good. 

_Do better Leo, you want this to turn out well for you._

\- I was about to message you asking for your help on that. I don’t have anymore leads than I did when we left months ago. You’re the only one who knows all the details and I knew you’d have a way of looking at it that would be interesting. Apparently I was right, because I don’t think you'd just visit him out of the blue.   


She let out a long sight, and he could hear her moving. 

\- When this thing turns on I'll send you a post from a few weeks ago. About a key made by Persona. It allows you to retrieve all the code contained in a synth without turning it on. They made it to fix damages caused by a virus. If you were a little tech oriented you could just get the key, get the code, put it on a special page in the persona website, and then plug it back in with clean code. Good as new, as if there was nothing to worry about. Then they patched all the synths once they figured out the solution. And -

A notification appeared, a new message, linking to a post. She was right, it seemed to be legit. 

\- - you’re right, I wouldn’t go and spend over £150 just to visit a synth that’s turned off. I would go to retrieve all his code and try to fix it afterwards tho. 

\- You got one of the key? 

\- Yeah, got it online, cost me a little fortune but it’s never been used. In the original packaging and all. 

He was speechless. 

Just like he thought, she’d found a solution. Not a complete solution, as they would still need to find a way to fix the code she could get, but still. It was more progress than he’d done, focusing on ways to prevent Fred from sending the message once he was on. She eliminated that problem completely. 

\- Seems like I was planning to ask the right person for help. I’m amazed. 

\- There’s no need to lie Leo. 

\- I’m not.

Then he saw it. The first message. Sent more than four months ago. He ignored it previously, too worried by the most recent one. 

It was simple. Just asking for news. Nothing fancy, nothing to opersonnal. Almost like a friend asking how the other was doing. Prompting the possibility of a conversation without pushing for it. 

And he hadn't seen it. 

Well, that explained why she was so surprised that he’d called. And why she was so upset. And it made him feel absolutely terrible. 

\- I’ve been looking for a solution for months. We have Fred with us, but we can’t do anything. We don’t know what’s going to happen to him. If his memory is going to be altered, if he’s going to be himself. Every day I don’t find a solution is a day where he could be losing parts of his memory and his program. I didn’t want to ask for your help because I didn’t want to put you and your family in danger. If your dad hears you talking to me right now he’ll have a heart attack. I don't want to put anyone else in danger but I’m running out of ideas. And I haven’t even started on how to fix the code itself, just prevent him from sending the location. You didn’t even bother, you eliminated that problem right away. 

He took deep breath. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was the fact that she still seemed to be on their side, but he felt like he could be honest to her. Like he could tell her the truth and life wouldn’t slap him in the face like it always did. Like he could, for once, have something nice. 

\- The truth is that I can’t solve this alone. I don’t want to drag you into this if you don’t want to. You deserve to be safe, your family too. 

She was silent for a long time after that. 

Did she see the opening he left her? He knew she was smart, but maybe he should have been more clear. He wanted her help, even if the reasonable part of him knew it was a terrible idea. He wanted to be able to talk to her more often, to spend time feeling more normal and less lonely. He loved his family, he truly did, but outside company was nice too, and he remembered all too well how great it felt at the Hawkin’s house. 

With her. 

\- You’re an idiot, do you know that? An absolute dumbass, I wonder if you have any kind of brain cells or if they’re all completely dead and rotten. Why do you think I went back there you stupid fuck? Why do you think I spent so many hours looking for a synth I might never find? I want to help you, it’s all I've been working on for months. Jesus you’re truly just… I can’t believe you. 

\- Well thanks for the compliment I guess. 

He heard her laugh on the other side, and suddenly he was aware of how far she was. How long the distance between them was. Both physically and emotionally. 

_Emotionally? Really? Nice thinking dumbass._

He wasn’t sure what this was, but what he knew was that he wanted to keep making her laugh, and that the time spent talking to her was always enjoyable. 

\- Okay, how do we do this then? 

\- Well, you could send me the key, or I can maybe find one. 

She stayed silent. Oh oh. Obviously he expected she wouldn’t like the idea very much. It was complicated to send stuff, especially when it was something precious and rare like this was. But they couldn’t really do anything, since they both had a part of the solution. 

\- Yeah… Or, you could come here -

\- What, no!

What the hell was that? Going back to London was never a possibility. the risk was too important, for everyone. 

\- Well, it would make everything a lot simpler. It’s like we don’t have the space anyway... 

\- Mattie no way. It’s not safe. We’re not doing that. 

\- Yeah well I’m not sending anything, and good luck to find one of those on your own. Did I mention they were very limited? Yeah? 

He rubbed his face. She would be the death of him. Why even would she want to see any of them again? They made her life so much more dangerous and complicated than it ever needed to be. and even if she wanted to, sh had her family to think about. They would never agree to something like this. If Joe heard even just his name, he would go crazy. 

But for now, he had to maybe give her that. What other solutions were there? 

\- I’ll see with Mia and Max about different solutions. I don’t want to put anyone in danger, we’ve been through enough. 

\- Are you currently safe? Like in a place where you can stay? 

\- Yes, we’re in an abandoned sort of castle. It’s huge and there’s no one around. We’re still careful. Are you? 

\- Yeah it’s fine. We moved. I got a whole floor to myself so it’s cool. 

A whole floor? Did one of her parents get such an important promotion?

\- That’s great, are you sure Hobb won’t find out about this? 

\- Yep. We’re a little far even for him. Well, I'll let you talk with the others and I'll do the same, deal? If you ghost me again I’ll visit every single abandoned castle I can find and I'll kick your ass myself. G’night!

\- You wouldn’t… Okay deal, bye. 

Without waiting, he hung up. 

This wasn’t going the way he planned. And yet, he couldn’t say he was unhappy about the new developments. 


	8. Chapter 8

It was late. It was too late for anyone to be awake. But it was one of the only moments of peace she could have. 

Sophie had been going to dance lessons for a little while, and she was absolutely in love with it. She kept asking her sister to watch her train, and tell her if anything looked off. It was lovely, but Mattie also had things to do. 

Things like block Harun’s call on all the numbers he used, and try her hardest not to read his messages. 

At first she thought it would be the end of it. She’d talked with her mom, woke up the next morning feeling better, and then at lunchtime he started messaging her. And not just a few texts, hundreds of them. On her phone, on her social medias, she was pretty sure that if he’d had the number of anyone else in her family he’d have messaged them too. 

It was a mix of excuses, explanations, plea to come back, and anger as well. She hated that she had read some of them. She thought maybe they’d end this like adults, even if it was already messy. 

But this was not what was going to happen… 

She’d blocked his number, and started getting calls from other number that she didn’t know. 

If she hadn’t been waiting for a potential call from Leo, she’d have just turned it off. 

But the idiot wasn’t giving her any news. Maybe he just didn't care. Maybe he’d read the message and laughed about it, thinking how stupid she was for asking for his help. 

To make everything better, she had about three essays to write, as well as a whole load of other homework that needed to be done. With the trip to London, and the consequences it had, she hadn’t been focusing on her schoolwork as much as necessary. 

So there she was, looking at the stars and enjoying the silence. There were so many stars in the sky here. In London there hadn’t been that many, because of the amount of light pollution. She knew about this, in theory. But when she looked at the sky, he always thought that it was already full of stars. But here, it was so bright. The more she looked, the more there were. It was magical, and no matter how much she missed the city some days, she could never give that up. Especially since she lived at night so much. She didn’t have to wake up to go to school anymore, although one of her professor changed the program and was doing live lectures instead of the recorded one, and another was planning to do the same. 

She often found herself googling basic astronomy knowledge, and wondered if she should try to find constellations. She had some memory of a period, when she was about 12, when she wanted to become an astronaut, and learned all she could about space. She was a kid at the time, and her research hadn’t been very focused, but now it was a little bit useful. 

So when her phone started ringing, again, she felt more anger than ever before. She was tired, upset, and couldn’t see things getting any better. And if that dick of Harun thought he could abandon her, cheat on her, and then come back with stupid excuses and ways to put this on her, she was going to give him a run for his money. especially if he was going to call at such a stupid hour.

\- Fucking… I swear if you call me one more time I’ll change my number for fuck’s sake! 

\- Mattie are you all right? 

She was about to start saying all the things that had been on her mind, when it hit her. 

This wasn’t Harun. 

It was Leo.

that, he seemed worried too. Probably only about his own interests, but still. There was some sort of emotion in his voice, and that was already pretty rare. 

_Why’s he up at such an hour?_

When she finally found her voice, she was a bit frantic. She knew he could probably tell, but she didn’t care. So she started talking, and talking some more, and sometimes he cut her off but that was okay.

And then it hit her. 

_He knows._

The fucker knew. He wasn’t surprised or panicked or even worried. He knew Fred wasn’t in there anymore. 

Men were going to be the death of her if she was honest. Why did everyone think keeping her in the dark was the thing to do? How was she supposed to do this properly if she didn’t have all the informations? Sure he didn’t ask her to do anything, but still. 

It wasn’t like she was a complete stranger. She lived this with him. She deserved to know. and the fact that he didn’t tell her really hurt. But she wouldn’t let him see that. She even tried her best to keep the anger out of her voice. 

It sucked. This whole thing sucked. Of course he didn’t need her help. They took Fred with them, probably fixed all the problems the following week, and that was it. Who cared about Matilda and her attempts at being helpful. No point in trying anymore. She almost hung up right there and then, but she’d missed him too much to do that. She hated him in this instant, she couldn't think of nothing else than the absolute betrayal this was. Why not tell her? Why just ignore her all this time? 

And then he started talking again. 

\- I was about to message you asking for your help on that. I don’t have anymore leads than I did when we left months ago. you’re the only one who knows all the details and I knew you’d have a way of looking at it that would be interesting. Apparently I was right, because I don’t think you'd just visit him out of the blue. 

_Nice lie, but you won't fool me this time._

She absolutely refused to accept this as the truth. He didn’t need her help, maybe he just felt guilty for not answering the first time and now it seemed urgent so he tried to spare his conscience. Who knew. 

She settled on just explaining the way she’d found the persona key, as well as its use. Turning her laptop on almost made her fall out of her bed, but she caught herself with absolutely no grace. Gladly no one was here to welcome the wreck that she was. Maybe she should try dancing with Sophie, to become a little more graceful. Not that it would make any difference at such an ungodly hour. 

What surprised her most was how honest he was with her. He rarely gave any kind of positive feedback to anyone, her of all people. Sure there were times where he’d been smiling at her when she did well, and yes it had made her really proud, but it wasn’t like he went around saying “Good job!” when someone did a good job. He barely talked anyway. She probably heard him say more in this phone call than ever before. 

So it came as a shock when he explained his situation. How hopeless he seemed. She could hear it in his voice. The stress, the worry, the feeling of being unable to do something, of being completely useless. 

She was pretty familiar with it. 

And she hated the fact that he had to go through it, after everything that had happened to him before. Wasn’t life tired of always giving shit to the same people? Couldn’t it be fair and mean to everyone equally? 

\- The truth is that I can’t solve this alone. I don’t want to drag you into this if you don’t want to. You deserve to be safe, your family too.

She wasn’t stupid. She was aware of the door he just opened for her. But she wasn’t sure if he did he to be polite, or because he actually meant it. He’d never been this open before .It was really strange, and scary in a way. Was he playing with her? Or did he really think she’d say no and just go back to her life, ditching all the work she’d done over the past few months? It wasn’t like she just suddenly got bored of this and decided to do something else. She travelled a long way just to go back to a synth she barely knew, to help a family she barely knew and hadn’t seen in months, and he thought maybe she wouldn’t want to help him with it? 

He was an idiot. An absolute idiot. 

And she told him so. In a more colorful way than she originally intended to, but she didn’t care. He’d been honest, she was going to be honest, too. And if he didn’t liked it, too bad. 

But he didn’t seem to mind, and that made her smile. Because maybe this was someone she could be herself with. Someone who wouldn’t ask her to hide her interests and hobbies to fit in better with the rest of high school. 

But she didn’t want to think about Harun, not right now, she she decided it was time to talk about the practical side of things. She would get what she wanted, if only that one time, and she was ready to fight for it.

She wasn’t about to keep working from her room on her own. She wanted contact. Real contact, with people, often, and she was ready to do anything for it. 

She’d realised during the past few days that this wasn’t the lifestyle for her. She thought she would enjoy it, but she had a really hard time sticking to plans and doing things at a reasonable hour, and not last minute. She tended to get lost in what she was doing, realising after hours that she missed lunch or that she had a lot less time than planned for an important piece of homework. 

She needed people around, a strict schedule, someone to remind her that there were things outside her head. 

Mostly, she needed a friend. and maybe he’d be willing to be that for her, after everything she’d done. Maybe they could help each other out a little. 

And she had a plan on how exactly to get to that. 

Of course, he wanted her to send him the key. But she wasn’t about to be pushed aside that way. She was going to get what she wanted, or die trying. 

\- Yep. We’re a little far even for him. Well, I'll let you talk with the others and I'll do the same, deal? If you ghost me again I’ll visit every single abandoned castle I can find and I'll kick your ass myself. G’night!

She didn’t know if it would offend him, and almost immediately regretted saying it. But he didn’t get offended, even if he didn’t laugh. 

The next morning, she’d get up early, and talk to her mom. And she didn’t care about how dangerous it was, how she should have told her before she did anything, and how she didn’t want to hear anything about the Elsters ever again. 

She was going to get what she wanted. 


	9. Chapter 9

Sometime around 4 AM, he’d fallen asleep. It was now almost night again, and he was slowly emerging. 

_Maybe a better sleep schedule would be something nice._

Who was he kidding. He didn’t need a sleep schedule, Mia and Max didn’t sleep, and it was like he had anyone else who-

It all hit him like a train. The message. The panic. The fear. The phone call. The plan. The promise. 

He groaned and pushed his face into the pillow. What an idiot he was. Why had he said those things? 

_She must think I’m the biggest idiot she’s ever met._

But he had made a promise, and he was going to keep it. 

Noticing the light fading in and out on the floor next to him, he reached for it. It was the phone. He didn’t use it for so long that he didn’t recognize the notifications.

She’d sent him a message. A simple one, just a text. 

**Matilda** \- 17:47 “I talked with my mom. Call me when u did too.”

He didn’t remember giving her a contact name, or even saving her number, but the end of the night was a bit hazy in his memory, the lack of sleep for such a long period making his head work in a strange way.

That was the only explanation of why he’d said all those things to her. He wasn’t like that .He didn’t just told people how he felt about anything. Especially her. 

She’d been waiting for long enough, he had to talk with his family now. So he got up, changed clothes, wincing at the pain he still felt on his side, and went to the other room they used. 

The weather hadn’t been great for quite a few days, and it was really cold. He was almost shivering, missing the warmth of his bed. The place was safe, and no one would look for them here, but he missed having heating, and not feeling cold all the time. The little things in life really. 

It really surprised him how comfortable the Hawkins’ house was. After so long outside, he wasn’t used to it anymore. So in the beginning it felt off. Like something wasn’t right. But after some adjusting, he fell into it, and he really enjoyed it. It had nothing to do with his childhood home. It wasn’t better or worse, just different. 

A memory of hot chocolate and a soft blanket on his shoulder bubbled in his mind, and he couldn’t help but smile. 

In the evenings, the house would still get cold. With everyone in their rooms, things would grow quiet, but also cold. Mattie knew that, and she could sometimes almost sense that he was cold. Maybe it was why she made chocolate, and always had a blanket or two near her. It seemed weird that she was so used to working in the kitchen, when there was no reason for it. He hadn’t clearly seen all of her room, but it appeared to be comfortable and a great spot to work. 

She hadn’t been keen on getting him there, and it seemed that her siblings weren’t allowed in either, so he didn’t really mind. It would have been awkward anyway.

\- Leo, are you okay? 

Mia’s soft voice, filled with worry, brought him back to the present moment. She was looking at him, waiting for him to remember what this wall all about.

She’d been pressing him, trying to make him sleep properly, eat properly, and basically have a healthier life. He didn’t always listen, but he liked the fact that she didn’t give up on him, even if he was disappointment after disappointment.

\- Yeah, sorry, we need to talk about something important. 

She seemed to understand what it was about, and went looking for Max. Once they were all seated in the room, he started explaining. 

He told them how he’d been struggling, how he had no idea how to help Fred, and even after looking everywhere and asking so many people for help, he couldn’t figure it out. So he decided to reach out to her. Mattie. The one person who know as much as he did about the whole problem, so he didn’t have to find a cover. Mia smiled when he admitted that. She had suggested that he asked Mattie a couple times, but he always pushed the idea away, convincing himself that he could do it, and that she didn’t want anything to do with him anyways. 

He told them the risk she’d taken, the solution she had found, and how much closer she was to solve the whole problem than he’d ever been, and probably would ever be if things kept going the way they had.

Then, when it came to explaining the possible solutions, he found himself unsure what to offer. 

\- She doesn’t want to send it to us, and it’s too dangerous to go back there and get it from her. I don’t think she would give it to us anyway. I’m not sure what to do about it. 

Max, who had been making little origami birds all this time, finally decided to give his opinion on the matter. 

\- I think she said that because she knows what to do. I trust her, she’s been really helpful before, and she cares about all of us. What she did is really brave, I trust her to do more good things for us. 

Which left Leo wondering since when he hadn’t really paid attention to his brother. He seemed changed, in a way he couldn’t really explain. He was calm, relaxed, almost lost in his thoughts and yet paying attention to everything going on around him. Almost as if he could see and hear things others couldn’t. He hadn’t even really asked him about all the birds he was making, when there surely was a reason. 

Guilt filled him so suddenly that he almost drowned in it. How could he keep hurting everyone around him like that, and still have people on his side? How could he keep dragging them into this terrible life and feel good about it? He didn’t really feel good, but he always considered this to be the best solution. But maybe it wasn’t. 

Maybe he needed to start considering other things too. 

He promised himself that he would fix this, and make real efforts, as soon as possible. 

He then turned to Mia, who’d been smiling at them, almost as if, like Mattie, she knew exactly what the plan was. Was he the only one unaware of it? 

\- I agree with Max. If she didn’t tell you it’s because she knows you would disagree. I trust her, and I think she could help us live in a more normal way, if you ask her. Would you do that? 

\- What do you mean? 

\- Well, like Niska. She could do it on her own, as she’s alone. It’s harder for us, since we’re multiple people, and I don’t want to be away from the both of you again. I’m sure Mattie could help us figure something out. Will you ask? 

Surely this was a joke. 

\- We can’t do that, it’s too dangerous! I told Niska about it, she’s going to get caught and-

\- Leo, she’s been doing this for four month. She’s happy. More than she’s ever been. She made friends, she’s even doing some charity work now, walking dogs for a shelter. If she can do it, if Karen could do it, we can too. We don’t have to hide forever. Think about it okay? 

Not a joke, more like a conspiration. 

His relationship with Niska was still very rocky. She hadn’t forgiven him, and he didn’t expect to be forgiven, ever. She had, however, kept contact with them, through Mia. Sending regular messages, texts, sometimes even photos, giving little news here and there. Mia didn’t ask for more, no matter how much Leo would have wanted to know, and slowly Niska built herself a new life. 

He couldn’t say he was jealous, really, because he would have absolutely hated being on his own, far from his family, but it seemed nice to have the option to rebuild your life somewhere new, where no one knew what you had done, or who you were. 

He should have been happy for her, he knew that. But he couldn’t do anything else than worry about the moment where she would get caught, putting them all in danger, and they would have to find a way to help her too. He already had to help Fred, he couldn’t do both at a time. 

\- Fine. Fine. So whatever she offers, you agree to it? No questions asked? 

\- That’s not what I said. I still want to make sure everything is safe, and that there's nothing stupid, but I trust the both of you. I’m sure you'll figure it out. 

Max didn’t seem to have anything else to say, and just smiled at him, handing him a bird at the same time. 

\- Thank you Max, he’s beautiful. 

His brother’s smile only got bigger, and his guilt weighted heavy in his chest. Maybe they were right, they deserved a better life than this. All of them. He couldn’t force them to stay hidden forever, it wasn’t right. 

He’d been back on his bed for almost 15 minutes, but couldn’t bear to call her again. All his feelings felt messy and uncontrolled. So he opened his laptop, pulled a blank document, and started writing everything out. He would delete it later, but it was a good way of dealing with his emotions, and sort out the mess in his head. 

After about 30 minutes of writing frantically, he reached a decision. 

He would thank her for her help, be honest about how much it meant to him. He would relay Mia’s question, and listen to the ideas she could have. He would not be suck a dick to everyone around him anymore. If Niska could do it, so could they, especially if they got help. He would not hold his family back from living anymore. 

The guilt was still present, strong and dark, but he knew how to ignore it. He’d always done that with unpleasant feelings, he’d gotten good at it. 

Pressing the call button, he wondered if this was all he had to do to get good things in life. Decide he wanted them, and take the steps to get them. 


	10. Chapter 10

After they hung up, she stared at the stars for a long time, processing her thoughts. 

Everything was different now. He didn’t actually hate her, or never wanted to hear anything about her ever again, or anything else she’d imagined. 

The moment felt surreal. Like she was in a dream. Like she would wake up and wish this was the truth. But it seemed real enough for now. 

She wrote a note on her phone, so she would remember everything they’d talked about. And she set no less than seven different alarms for the next morning. 

She knew her mom would be home during the morning, as she had a video conference with someone for work, but didn't have to go to her office. She knew the call wouldn’t last the whole morning as well. It was her chance. She could just tell her everything, and see what problems were left. 

She had a crazy idea. Completely stupid some might think. 

She wanted them to come, and find a place near where her family was. Of course she was aware that they couldn’t just live wherever, they needed to stay hidden. But this was the end of the world. There was no one around. All the houses she’d seen that were close were either on the market or so derelict she doubted anyone lived in them ever. 

It would be dangerous, and she would need to convince both her mom and Leo. Who would be the tough one, she didn’t know yet. 

But she had to try. 

*

In the morning, she was full of many regrets. 

She never woke up so early, and she rarely stayed up so late. The mix of the two was terrible, and she felt sore despite not doing any kind of effort. 

_ Definitely need to fix that.  _

Another day. Right now, she had important things to do. Like get the biggest cup she could find in the house and fill it with coffee. And then talk to her mom. 

When she appeared into the kitchen, she knew everyone was shocked. She hadn’t had breakfast with them in so long that they almost forgot she was able to get up before 11 am. 

No one made a comment, which was surprising. Did she look that bad?

After her siblings were at school, and the call was done, she made two cups of tea and asked her mom to come, because they needed to talk. 

Laura seemed worried about it, which Mattie could understand. In just a few months, the situation between them had changed a whole lot. 

They went from barely talking to each other, to this. It wasn’t like they were really close or best friends, like some girls she knew were with their moms, but they could have an honest conversation without arguing. Which was nice.

\- So, what is this all about?

She took a sip of her tea, wondering how she should tell her. Maybe honesty was the best choice. After all, there was no point in inventing a lie that she would have trouble keeping up with.

\- I lied to you, I didn’t go to London to see friends or dad or whoever. 

\- Okay…

\- I went for Fred.

Laura raised an eyebrow, evidently not expecting that. 

\- I’ve been working on a way to fix him since… Well forever actually. I don’t have many ideas and I’m not great when it comes to synths, but I found a USB stick, made by persona, which would allow me to get all his code without turning him on. That’s what I wanted to do, but he wasn’t there.

\- What?! Oh my god did someone take him? Did you tell Mia and the others? 

\- Yeah, I was the same. I was so worried he’d been taken or found by Hobb.. So I messaged Leo. I had already sent something a few days after they left, it was all safe don’t worry. This time he answered. Called me yesterday actually. They have Fred with them, for a while too. 

She still couldn't believe he didn’t tell her. She’d been so worried for all this time! Almost threw up at some point, when it was a little late and she was drowning in her anxiety about all of it.

Laura was seemingly lost in her thoughts. Mattie knew because when she was, she bit the inside of her cheeks, and she could see it. 

After a few minutes, she talked again.

\- I’m guessing you’re not telling me this because you suddenly feel guilty about it? It was really, really dangerous Mattie. But I guess the rush of stress you’ve gotten is enough of a consequence.. 

\- You’re right. I still have the key. The Elsters have Fred. The’re doing fine by the way. So, we both have a part of the solution, and I don’t want to give them the key. 

_God it sounds even more selfish when I say it out loud._

\- Why not?  


\- I just...I want to actually help. I don’t want to just help with Fred and then never hear from them again because they’re hiding god knows where. That’s not a life. 

Laura sighed and finished her cup of coffee. 

\- Well since we’re being honest today… Get dressed, we’re going to my office. 

\- ...Okay. 

She decided not to ask any questions. Sometimes it was for the best, she didn’t want this opportunity to disappear. 

She almost ran to her room, before getting reminded by her body that she had barely slept for the past week or so, and grabbed a pair of jeans and her favorite t-shirt. She also took her favorite pair of socks, mismatched ones. She wanted them to make her lucky, because the rest of her life could change that day. And they were comfy. 

When she got in the car, she didn’t dare to ask questions. 

She had learned that her mom, much like anyone, had her secrets. It wasn’t like she expected to know everything, but after she learned about her grandma, and the whole story surrounding her, she realized that sometimes it was best not to know. So she didn’t push in moments like this. She liked her privacy, better let others have some too. 

Her mom’s office was nothing like she expected. Considering the city they were in, she expected an old building, that probably used to be housing, and had been converted into offices. 

It was the complete opposite. Everything was modern and brand new, looking shiny despite the gloomy weather. 

Laura lead the way through a couple of stairs, hallways, a conference room, and finally her office. No one questioned the fact that Mattie was here, and severely underdressed, and they sat down in Laura’s office. 

\- I’ve been keeping the files here because it’s safer. This company deals with quite a few sensitive military cases, so everything is super safe. 

\- That’s why you work here?

\- Maybe. Look. 

She had opened a file that contained newspaper articles, some links to wikipedia, which was odd, some transcripts of what looked like tribunal hearings, all kinds of stuff. 

The title of the file only read “HOBB”, in full capitals.

\- What’s this? 

\- I’ve been keeping track of him. Looking up his name into various databases. What he was up to, his employment history, all kinds of things. I told you all I was going to work for a small company but that wasn’t true. I just didn’t want Sophie or Toby to tell their friends I work closely to the army. 

That was new. She had been just like her siblings, convinced her mom had taken a small job, something not too important, just to get away from their father.

\- I’m not on his case, but we’re encouraged to learn about anything our colleagues might be doing. Dany, who’s not here today, was on this. When the whole Brexit thing started, they looked into various accounts and paperwork from a bunch of government branches. To make sure everything was right, and to estimate budgets for the split. And they found Hobb, who’s been getting money from other departments, illegally. They then talked to his employees and a bunch of people, and many came forward to accuse him of a variety of crime. Assault, aggravated assault, battery… all kinds of things here. He was judged during one of the prime minister election, so no one really cared, but we kept track. He’s been imprisoned for almost a month. 

She’d been standing, but she needed to sit down. Sliding against the wall, she ended up on the floor, her hears ringing slightly, unsure if this wasn’t a dream after all.

\- You’re telling me that Hobb isn’t there anymore? That’s insane. What happened to the people who worked with him? Their research and everything? 

\- You’re really smart, you should be a lawyer you know? Dany, who was on the state’s side, had it all confiscated and put under protection for the next 50 years. Basically, since it’s government doing, it can be kept secret for up to 100 years. He only got 50, but no one will access those files until then, except secret services, and the people who worked on the case and trial. 

This was too good to be true. It was just too good to be true. There was no way it was real.

\- So what you’re telling me, is that Hobb and his work are not here anymore, and no one is looking for us of them anymore?

\- Not exactly. I’m pretty sure other people know about Leo’s family, and would love to get their hands on them, but they don’t have the resources to do it, not as much as Hobb did anyway. So they’re not out of the danger, but the biggest risk has been eliminated. 

\- Why didn’t you tell me? 

Laura stayed silent for a while. 

\- I wasn’t sure about the legal aspect of things. Last week I took care of it, I signed for your siblings since they’re underaged, but couldn't sign for you. It’s 16 and above. But then you went to London and I thought it would be wrong to ruin your fun with that. And then you came back… It felt like it should wait a little bit. But since I know you’ve been doing things on your side too, it’s all good now.

Despite the feeling of, once again, betrayal, Mattie could understand the reasoning. It made sense and she would probably have done the same. Hell, she did the exact same. She had no right to be angry. 

\- So do I have to sign anything before I go? Like to say “hey, I know what’s going on but won’t yell it to the world”? 

\- Exactly! Come on I’ll take you to the person in charge of that. And then I hope you can keep yourself busy for the afternoon because it’s almost lunchtime and I won’t drop you off at home. 

\- No problem, I’m sure I'll find something to do.

_Leo is never going to believe this._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I translated some of the stuff I needed for this chapter because I couldn't be bothered to research the justice system in the UK for 3 hours... But at least it's not completely made up like the school system!  
> This is also one of the longest chapters at 3.6k words which always blows my mind ~

Deciding he’d rather not intrude in her life, he texted her, offering to call her at 10 PM, which she immediately accepted. 

He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he knew he’d have to be honest once again. Maybe he shouldn’t have slept so much, it would be so much harder to get the words out. 

Most of the time, he didn’t really want to be mean or rude or harsh, he just didn’t know how to be honest. It always felt dangerous, like people were going to laugh at him, or try to take advantage of him in some way. Which had happened too often. 

But she wasn’t like that. She wasn’t going to try and use him like other people did. 

When he called, he didn’t even have time to say hello before she started talking.

\- I have good news for you. Probably the best news you’ll ever hear in your life. So I hope you’re ready. Because this changes everything, and also probably destroys any argument you might have against me. 

\- Okay, hello to you too. 

\- Oh come on, we’ve talked already today. It counts. So, I can’t fully say anything because I signed a paper, but the person you would consider your worst enemy cannot reach you right now. 

\- What do you mean? And who is it?

What the hell was she talking about?

\- Can’t say any names. Who would you consider your worst enemy? That person is in prison for the next 35 years at least, with other trials to follow, for everything under the sun from assault and threats on coworker, to embezzlement. 

\- Are you talking about Hobb? 

\- I’m not allowed to say names, so I can’t say you’re wrong. 

His mind was racing faster than it ever had before. He frantically searched on google, to know if she was telling the truth. 

And here it was. Staring him in the face, multiple small articles about him. The arrest, the trial, the witnesses coming forward every day. 

He could have been slapped in the face, he wouldn’t have felt more shocked. 

\- Holy fucking shit. 

On the other end of the phone, he could hear her laugh. He didn’t fully register it. He was scrolling through all the articles, wondering how he’d missed them. How he could not have seen something this big. Something like this changed everything. Every single little thing. 

\- I’d pay good money to see your face right now you know. 

Not paying her any mind, he got up, unplugged his laptop, and went to the other room, not even bothering to knock. 

\- Mia did you know about this? Does Niska know? You have to tell her! 

\- What is it? Calm down? And who’s on the phone? 

\- It’s Mattie, she told me, did you know? 

Mia started reading quickly through the many tabs he’d opened, but Max only smiled after looking at a few headlines, and took the phone from his hands. 

\- Hi Matilda, how are you doing? 

Leo watched him, unsure what to do. Surely she would mind, right? 

\- I made you a little paper bird, I will tell Leo to send you a photo until I can give it to you. 

Mia was still reading, but she was also holding one of his hands, pressing it hard. She probably didn’t know then. This changed everything, and she knew about that of course. Max probably did too, but he didn’t need the details to make sure everything was true. He trusted Leo to be sure. 

\- Of course, don’t worry about us, we are well. I have been learning about birds and origami. Do you know about it? 

Mia took out her phone, and selected Niska’s contact, calling her. He hoped she would answer, but he knew she wouldn’t talk to him no matter what.

He waved to Max, who understood the message. 

\- I enjoyed talking with you. I hope to do it again soon. Have a good night Matilda. 

And then waited for her answer before handing Leo the phone. 

He went back to his room, and even if he could hear Mia talk he couldn’t make out the words. Hopefully Mattie couldn’t hear it in the background. 

\- Sorry for that, I just had to show them. 

\- It’s fine. I’m glad Max is doing okay. I don’t want to pry but.. Is Niska not with you? 

Unsurprisingly she’d heard about that. Which gave him a reason to explain it right now, so it wasn’t so bad. 

\- No, she didn’t want to be with us anymore. We don’t get along so great, her and me, and she wanted more. So she left, she’s in Iceland now, under another name, living a life as normal as can be. Which is something I wanted to tell you about. And you were right, you smashed all my arguments. 

\- Oh, I’m really curious. Are you letting me win without a fight here?

\- Oh absolutely not! But I don’t think we can live like this forever. And the others agree. If Niska can do it, so can we. They want to ask you for help, on how to make things different for us. 

She was silent for a long time. Maybe weighing the risks. Maybe already thinking about all the options. It wouldn’t be surprising, she was always thinking really fast. 

\- I don’t know much about changing your whole life to pretend you’re someone else, but I have a feeling my mom would be very useful in that matter. I'll tell her about it and ask for various options. Obviously getting you papers and everything is needed. Hopefully you can find someone who can do that. Giving you a story as well, family history and all that. Maybe make a decent family tree that goes back to say, the 1600? I’ll make a list on the forum, private workspace, and share it with you. 

\- Private workspace? 

\- Yeah, about a month ago they added the ability to have a sort of virtual desktop. Not fully a virtual machine, but you can use files through the forum, and it’s private but can be shared with others. You’ve never used it? 

\- I didn’t go back on there until the day I saw your message, so I don’t know anything about the changes they made… 

He was aware this wasn’t really an apology for ignoring her for so long, but he didn’t have it in him. Not yet. 

\- Oh, well there’s a couple other things that might interest you then, check it out… 

*

The next time they called each other was daytime, for the first time in forever. 

But it wasn’t just the two of them. This was like a conference call, with Laura also present, as well as Mia. Max had opted out, saying it would become too crowded, and he’d rather not bother them. 

He was never a bother, but they knew he didn’t want to be part of the organisation too much. The recent months had been difficult for everyone, and he wanted to enjoy the new developments instead of organizing them and seeing all the problems, the risks and the dead ends. 

Having promised himself to do better, Leo had started reaching out to him more often. He’d learned to make basic origami, even though it rarely looked like what it was supposed to, and they had watched the first episode of a documentary series on wildlife in Sri Lanka. It was good moments, even if it didn’t help him make progress on the primary goal: Fred. 

He was still really stressed out about his brother, but seeing this finally move made him hopeful. It wasn’t progress on the main problem, but it would ensure that progress happened eventually, and fast progress too. 

Mattie hadn’t told him really, but he knew what Laura was about to offer. 

That they moved in with the Hawkins. 

When he had finally figured it out, because it made so much sense, his first reaction was to wonder how they planned to make it possible in such a big city. 

One night, or rather early morning, Mattie had told him about the divorce and the move. What had happened, how, when. She tried to play it cool, but she must be pretty hurt about it, because she didn’t go into detail like she always did with everything else. Like the way she painted her ceilings (there were 4 coats of paint for the background and two for the stars that she added when she realized she didn’t have enough sticky plastic ones) or Sophie’s dance training (twice a week at 5 pm, and every weekend with Mattie as a judge for quality). 

He wasn’t an expert in anything related to emotions and feelings, but he was pretty sure she didn’t want to talk about it, so he didn’t ask any more questions. He also told the others that it was pretty sensitive for her and maybe for Laura as well. 

At 2 PM, like they had agreed, he called Mattie’s phone number. 

They were sitting outside, enjoying the nice weather. They were in a sort of walled garden, but without any flowers, only a whole lot of weeds and overgrown trees and bushes. He really liked it. He would have loved to make it into a prettier place, but that wasn’t possible. 

-Hi, hang on let me put you on speaker. 

They heard a bunch of noises, and he wondered how someone could struggle so much when putting a phone on speaker. 

\- There you, hi everyone. 

\- Hi Matilda. 

Mia spoke first, and he just said a little “Hi”, wondering how things would go. They’d never done this before,  _ he _ ’d never done this before. And new meant scary. But it was necessary if he wanted things to improve. Mia already looked so much happier, the hope for a better life making her smile more often, and be overall more interested in everything. 

\- Hello, how are you all doing? 

\- Very good, thank you Laura. 

\- Wonderful. Well, I don’t have much time before I need to go get Sophie, so I’m going to be quick. We’d like you to come here, all of you, except Niska as I understand she’s already doing her own thing, so that Matie and Leo can fix the whole code problem that our common friend has, and then give you all proper papers and story. We found a couple families that could do, but it would require a lot of paperwork, so we’ll send you the info and you can chose. 

And for about an hour, they settled the specifics. 

No one said it out loud, but it seemed as if they would be staying with the Hawkins longer than was needed to fix Fred and give them proper papers. 

Which he didn’t mind at all. 

*

**Mattie** \- 3:15 “Finally found his contact, but not gonna call him because i am done with calling stranger for the rest of my life, good luck”

**You** \- 3:16 “Thanks, I’ll call tomorrow and see how much he asks for.”

**Mattie** \- 3:20 “Still don’t want me to pay for one of the ID?”

**You** \- 3:21 “Come on not again”

**Mattie** \- 3:22 “Okay okay fine, gnight”

**You** \- 3:23 “Night, talk to you tomorrow.”

*

The day the finally got the papers, it felt magical.

Well, really, the Hawkins got the papers, because they didn’t have an address, and picking it up anywhere was too risky anyway. 

They’d arranged an itinerary for the trip, and stolen a car, as well as a few license plates that they would be switching regularly. 

They didn’t feel good about it, but they had to. It wasn’t like they could carry Fred around. Otherwise they would have acted as backpackers taking a long trip through england. 

Leo didn’t have a license, so Mia would drive, pretending to be a synth. 

The other two would sit in the back, Max pretending to be a synth as well, and Fred being is usual silent self. 

The even made a cover story, where Leo was taking his two synth to a specialized persona center, where they would swap some pieces of Max to Fred, to fix him, and then discard Max, who was a little too old for his taste. 

Mattie had joked that the asshole personality suited him well, and he wasn't sure what to think about it. The story was hopefully not going to get used. Mattie even found a form online, and filled it as if persona themselves had asked him to go to that center specifically. He’d have to pretend to be a rich snobby guy, as it was kind of a VIP center, and not everyone could get their synth modified just like that. 

Still, it was one more step towards their final goal. 

*

**Mattie** \- 11:45 “Hey, asleep already?”

**You** \- 11:50 “No.”

**Mattie** \- 11:51 “Could you help me with something?”

**You** \- 11:55 “Sure, what is it?”

**Mattie** \- 11:57 “I have a project due in about 12 hours and no clue on how to do it, could you give me like, a little help? Like just for the database” 

She’d sent him a file on the forum, and when he looked at it, he was surprised to see the length of it. 

There were at least three pages of requirements, some more complex than others. 

She had to built an entire e-commerce, and it was clearly stated at the beginning of the text that no late assignment would be taken into consideration. 

**You** \- 12:01 “ Do you already have something?”

**Mattie** \- 12:02 “No..”

Well, this wasn’t good news. 

He felt a rush of guilt. She’d been so preoccupied with helping them that she probably pushed some things away. They’d been researching this pretty much all day and all night for a long time. And she also made a bunch of suggestions for Fred. Obviously, something had to give.

She was still connected on the forum, so he requested vocal chat over there, as he would need both his hands to code. 

She didn’t answer immediately, but still accepted the request. 

\- Yeah? 

She sounded about to cry. 

-I’m gonna help you, what do you need first? 

\- Uh I don’t know… God I don’t even know where to start with this… 

She took a big inspiration, and he wondered just how stressed she was about this, on top of everything else. She was clearly lost with this assignment. It was given over a month ago too, so why was she only starting now? 

\- Get a domain name, and some space for hosting, then we can start working, do you know what you want to sell? 

\- No… I thought about kitchen stuff, but fresh produce is complicated, and I don’t know enough about other stuff. Maybe baking equipment? 

\- Okay, baking equipment it is. I’m going to start looking for pictures of products, and you go register a domain and hosting. 

\- You don’t need to do that it’s fine. 

Like he was going to let her get a bad grade for something he was perfectly capable of helping her with. 

\- Stop talking, start working. I’m not letting you spend the night on this. I don’t know why you didn’t ask earlier. Did you put it aside to help me with paperwork and finding a person to counterfeit IDs for us? 

\- Maybe… 

Not a surprise. 

She had incredible research skills, it always amazed him how fast she could find something, and how accurate it was. But she often talked about doing things with her family, helping Sophie with dance, her mom with cooking, watching movies… Truth was, they texted each other pretty much all day long. It was awesome, he loved it. 

But at the same time, it meant she had less time for herself. For things like homework and work in general. He wasn’t sure if she had any sort of job, but he knew she made a lot of contributions on the forum and also often accepted requests to help and tutor people. He had seen over 10 different people credit her for her help in a variety of projects, and over half of those had to be paid. 

Apparently, she left her homework on the side, in favor of other things. 

He could understand, it didn’t seem very interesting, with all the very strict guidelines and the strict tone of the document. 

When she would go to college, if she did, she would be on the top of her class if she could motivate herself to work. She had an incredible mind, there was no discussing that. She seemed to already be taking a lot of classes, and sometimes mentioned her various technicals. He was pretty amazed because they were all really hard, and the fact that her administration allowed her to take them meant they were aware of her capacities. 

But out of all of it, he didn’t think she’d ask for his help. She was doing great things, complicated things, and a lot of them. He could only guess that what he was seeing on the forum was a fraction of it. 

She wasn’t the type to ask for help anyways. 

Apparently he’d been wrong, and she would leave her pride on the side only when the deadline was so close she had no other option but panic and cram. 

\- Okay I have it, it’s called bakery dreams, took the max amount of hosting storage just in case. I’m sending you info, I made an admin account for you as well. 

\- What class in this for?

\- Advanced web dev. One of the many technicals I have. 

He wondered how many other she had, and how many had important projects waiting to be done. She rarely talked about school in details, just mentioning it here and there. 

He’d asked once, when they were staying with the Hawkins the first time. It had been at night, like pretty much all the time they’d spent together without no one around, and she was curious about how he learned all the things he knew. He didn’t really want to talk about it, so he only gave a short answer, and asked her about her school, so she would focus on something else. 

She was taking the average program at that time, with a little bit more math than necessary, but that was it. Was she even allowed to take that many more classes during the year? He wasn’t sure. 

Once he was connected to the web hosting service, he started creating repertories for the different component they would need, explaining what he was doing as he went. 

\- Did your prof ask for a specific technology or anything? I didn’t fully read the document. 

\- No, the only requirements are content based, so we can use wordpress or do anything from scratch it doesn’t matter. He told us he won’t look at the code and only wants an address in the info we give back. 

This was great news, because he could do whatever he thought was good, and it wouldn’t get her in trouble. He wouldn’t have to try and match her style either, as no one would look at it. 

\- Awesome. Let’s start with the list of pages necessary. I’ll be doing the database and requests if you want, and explain as I do it. That works for you? 

\- Perfectly. Thank you so much. 

And for the rest of the night, they worked hard on the website, sometimes talking sometimes in complete silence. She made multiple coffees for herself, and encouraged him to do the same. 

Using several other baking websites as reference, she wrote products descriptions while he formatted the pages to look good both on mobile and desktop, then they worked together to chose the fonts and colors. He made sure to thoroughly explain all the requests he wrote to pull info from the database he created, and created a working payment function. 

At a ridiculous hour in the morning, everything was ready. 

\- Can you see assignments from other people too? 

\- Yeah, it’s one of the public assignment, you can see what others gave to the prof. Only 5 have done it. 

\- Out of?

\- Hmm about fifty I think? 

It was a lot of people to be in only on class. When she sent him the various websites and he opened them, he instantly felt better about what they’d done. It was far from perfect, and he’d reused a lot of code from previous projects, but it worked completely, when several other websites didn’t even have all the pages a real website would have. 

After looking through them all, he was confident it would go perfectly well for her. 

\- Okay, I officially gave it back. 

\- Awesome. Now go to sleep, and if you need help on other assignments you can always ask, okay? 

\- Okay. Thank you so so so much. Go to sleep too. Talk to you when I wake up, bye. 

\- Bye. 

This wasn’t something he ever had before. A friend, who he could help and who’d be thankful, not asking him to always do more for them. 

He liked it, he really did, and he had hated hearing her on the verge of tears when the call started. It wasn’t like he couldn’t understand the pressure she had. He hadn’t really considered how much work she could have on top of everything they were doing, and he couldn’t believe she’d managed everything fine until then. Wasn’t there a holiday soon? Hopefully there would be, so she could get some sleep. 

All the details of the trip were almost settled, and they would be leaving in just three days. They had been planning on various stations where they could get gas on the way, as well as a place where he could get food. 

He couldn’t wait for that day to come. 

The day when he could finally see her again. 


	12. Chapter 12

On the day of the trip, he was nervous. And not just nervous, but so anxious he almost fell sick. 

He had to stay strong and put on a warrior face. 

Without him even realizing, he started to hum the song, before stopping suddenly. Dammit. Mattie had made him listen to it and now it kept turning in his head at the most random moments. She was too obsessed with this, especially since Sophie had decided Moana was her new favorite cartoon and they watched it almost daily. 

He didn’t live there yet, why did he need to suffer the consequences from the girl’s new obsession? 

He didn’t even care about kids movies… But he had to admit he really enjoyed it when Mattie forced him to watch it with them. 

Unexpectedly, their TV had given up on them, and Sophie was heartbroken. So Mattie had offered to watch the movie with her, and at the same time told him to join them, then shared her screen without waiting for his answer. 

And so he watched with them, hearing them sing along to every single song, and Sophie make comments on the characters interactions or the way they talked. And then, when the movie was over and he thought this would end and he could go back to his work, Mattie announced to her sister that she had found bonus songs on youtube. Sophie was delighted, Leo not as much, and they spent the next half hour listening to the bonus songs. 

It could have ended there. But Sophie asked why the voices were different for some of the characters. And then Mattie got to tell her sister about Hamilton. Of course the young girl was, well, too young to really understand why her sister liked it so much, but Leo immediately understood how obsessed she was. 

So after Sophie left, he asked her about it. 

He’d heard some people praise it here and there, saw it mentioned, but never really listened to any of the songs. 

To his surprise, she refused to answer.

“I’m not telling you anything about it until you come here and can’t escape listening to it. And if you look it up just to be smart, it won’t change a thing.” 

Which was reassuring really. But it was a good thing, because it was something to look forward to. Something that they could do together, and that didn’t involve any expectations to have a great result, like helping Fred did. 

\- Leo, are you ready? 

\- Yes, just checking if I didn't leave anything. 

The previous day, he had taken photos of the space, after tidying as much as he could. He didn’t know if he would miss it or not, but he wanted to have something to remember, in case he did. 

Mattie had joked that they should buy the castle and renovate it. He hadn’t dared look at listing yet, just in case it was liked to some sort of alert, but he certainly planned to do it. How much could this place be worth? He’d probably never have the money, but he had somewhat grown attached to it. 

Max definitely had, and he was devastated to leave. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but they could see it on his face. 

Leo only hoped that his brother could still do the things he loved when living with the Hawkins. He wasn’t sure what the surroundings of the house was, but Mattie and Laura promised that they were isolated. 

Looking at the room one last time, he thanked the place for keeping them safe such a long time, and closed the door. He probably would never see it again. 

When he got in the car, everyone was ready. 

They were all wearing simple clothes, and he had semi fancy ones, to appear even more like a brat. 

In the beginning, he could barely relax. All the others were silent, and he was getting lost in his thought, kind of drowning even. 

Then his phone lightly buzzed in his pocket.

**Mattie** \- 8:22 “Sorry missed my alarm, on the way already? Mom wants to know what u wanna have for dinner” 

**Mattie** \- 8:23 “She says to have a good trip and stay safe, and to use her card if u run out of money, and a bunch of other boring stuff”

**Mattie** \- 8:23 “and to please decide who sleeps where, there’s two room and space in the basement but she won’t let anyone sleep there so don’t try”

He couldn’t help but smile at that. She didn’t have to wake up so early, and yet… 

\-  Laura wants to know about sleeping arrangements. There’s two rooms available in the house. 

**Mattie** \- 8:25 “room on 3rd floor has no heating, but the other is next to Sophie, don’t forget that !!!”

\- One of the room has no heating, and the other is next to Sophie. I’m not sleeping next to Sophie no matter what. 

Mia smiled at that. She missed the little girl, he could tell. She loved kids, and would enjoy taking care of Sophie to give Laura a break. 

\- Max, what do you want to do? 

\- I think I will go with Leo if he doesn’t mind. I don’t think Sophie would appreciate bugs and birds as much as I do. 

\- Maybe not. I'll forward that. 

**You** \- 8:27 “Max and I will stay together, Mia will be very happy to stay next to Sophie”

**Mattie** \- 8:28 “When I tell her she’s gonna faint x)” 

\- Do they have space for Fred? I wouldn’t want someone to be able to see him by accident… 

\- Don’t worry, I’m sure they do. 

Mia turned on the radio of the car, playing a popular station, and they all went back to silence. They couldn’t be seen talking to each other too much, people usually didn’t do that. 

And for a long time, he kept texting Mattie and reading various news articles online. It was a nice distraction, so he relaxed. Mia was very careful to respect every single driving rule that ever existed, and there was no reason they would ever get arrested. Except maybe the stolen plates, but what could you do. It wasn’t like they could just legally buy a car. 

When they reached the locations they had selected, they stopped for gas. Then once more for food. Mattie had insisted that he get something expensive, even if it was just a great quality sandwich, and she’d even made him a list of things that would be good to take. He wasn’t used to having so much money to spare, and he didn’t feel good spending so much in something so stupid, but he had to admit the food was better than what he was used to. 

One thing that had always made him sad was the fact that his family would never know how great food could be. He couldn’t say he knew a lot about it, but he certainly knew that good food could drastically improve someone’s life. Of course it was something well researched, but it was also a simple truth that everyone could understand. He wasn’t one for fancy meals, but he still enjoyed having nice food made by someone competent. So definitely not him. 

He hoped that he could learn some basics, because if Laura was now alone, she had to handle all the cooking for all her kids, and he was about to add one more person to the mix. He didn’t feel too great about that. So hopefully he could learn and make himself useful in the house. If not he could always handle some cleaning or other things. He wasn’t afraid to work to earn his place. 

He’d had to work before, always under a fake name and with many precautions. Sometimes it was necessary to get informations. Sometimes to get money. He didn’t like it, it was too dangerous, but it had taught him to put his head down and do what he was told.

\- We're almost there. 

Mia had spoken in her usual soft voice, nothing like a regular synth. She was stressed. They all were. 

**You** \- 8:20 “Almost there”

**Mattie** \- 8:21 “Cool, in time for dinner”

He would have loved to be as optimistic as her, but he was really stressed. No one had talked to them all day, no one had asked questions or to see any papers. No one had bothered them. They’d been hiding in plain sight. It wasn’t normal, especially after so long hiding in the castle. 

But soon, the stress would be over, they would be able to hide again, and to feel more relaxed.

He couldn’t wait. 


	13. Chapter 13

They were about to arrive. 

They were like a few minutes away. 

She’d never been this nervous in her life. 

It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. They’d been planning this for such a long time, she should have felt ready. And not about to explode like she currently was. 

She didn’t know how thing would go, but she was sure she should have slept more. What a stupid idea getting up at 8 am to keep him company. 

She’d figured he would be pretty lonely, since he couldn't really talk with the others during the car ride. Or maybe he’d just sleep, but she had been doubtful. 

So she got up, despite going to bed very late, and kept him company, in between making beds and promising Sophie that they would spend time to watch her dance choreography and critique it. Surely Mia knew something about dance, right? 

**Leo** \- 8:20 “Almost there”

**You** \- 8:21 “Cool, in time for dinner”

Laura had insisted that they waited, probably because she knew how awkward Leo would feel. 

Everything was ready, and by 8:35, they were there. 

Following the plan, they had parked the car a few meters away, after a turn in the road, and walked through the trees to get to the house, on the garden side. It was just to be safe, as there weren’t any neighbors anyway. 

Then everything got busy at once, everyone coming into the house, Leo and Max carrying Fred into the basement, Laura guiding them, and Sophie immediately jumping on Mia. Mattie kept herself busy by carrying some of their stuff to the first floor. 

They didn’t have as much as she thought they would. Leo wouldn’t talk about it, but she knew they’d been in the same place for quite a while. They should have accumulated, like everyone does. But they weren’t like everyone else. 

Once everyone was getting ready for dinner, she asked everyone how the trip went. She got a hum from Leo, and a sentence from the others, which was good enough. 

Sophie then tried to get her attention, as well as convince her to watch Moana again, but Mattie was prepared and redirected her to Toby instead. She loved the movie and her sister, but she wasn’t going to watch it every day with her. 

Laura showed Mia to her room, and she offered to show the boys. 

\- Here it is, we got rid of the mess, that’s what’s in the basement. If you need anything I’m in the other room on this floor, just doing homework so you won’t bother me don’t worry. 

\- Thank you Mattie, for everything. 

\- Well, spend a night here and thank me later. You haven’t heard Sophie sing yet. Did I mention that she likes to wake up really early?

Leo groaned and she smiled, closing the door behind her and going back to her room.

It was terribly awkward. More than anything she’d ever lived probably. But she didn’t really have the time to dwell on it, as she still had a lot of work to do, mostly an essay to write for the next day. Which she wasn’t excited about, as it was on the ethics of choosing a synth for their appearance and the consequences of colonialism and the availability of different ethnicities in synths. 

Which in itself was interesting, but in fact was a pain to research. She had found a thesis on the subject and was  _ this _ close to pull her arguments from it, but she knew it wouldn’t serve her, so she needed other credible sources. And since the subject was somewhat touchy, some powerful people tried their best to prevent others from talking about it. 

After one more hour of researching and trying not to listen to all the noises in the house, she decided she needed more coffee. If she was about to spend the night on this, better get some energy to do so. Hopefully she could sleep in the next day. Probably not, since Sophie would be home, and overexcited due to the presence of Mia and the others.

She was very disappointed not to see Niska, but Mia had explained that puppies needed her, and Sophie immediately understood how serious it was. 

When she got downstairs, she could see the light in the living room still on. Probably her mom, talking with Mia or doing whatever. She didn’t go, preferring not to justify her need for coffee at such an odd hour. 

Laura was aware that her daughter wasn’t living the healthiest life, but she wasn’t sure how to deal with it, so she let her organize herself how she prefered, and didn’t offer too much unsolicited advice. At least she tried. 

Reaching for the biggest much the owned, Mattie smiled at the cat shape it had. She had been trying to convince her mom to let them get a cat for the longest time, but it still wasn't a success. One day she would get to make that a reality, she knew. It wasn’t like they didn’t have the space or the time. However she couldn’t use the fact that she was alone most days as a reason to ask for companionship. With three, soon four people permanently in the house with her, things would be busy. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to keep sleeping all day. Weird perspective. 

Carefully climbing the stairs -she didn’t want to spill coffee and have to clean again- she wondered if she could finish the essay and also write the content for another assignment she had to make. It was a presentation, and she needed to record herself, which sucked a whole lot. 

When she finally got to her room, she was surprised to find Leo there, waiting for her, with his laptop clutched against his chest. He looked like a little child. She wasn’t sure if he was in pajamas or not, but it didn’t look comfortable to sleep in. She’d have to hint at her mom to get Mia to hint at him that he needed proper clothes now that he had to act like a normal and functioning member of society. 

Maybe spending a lot of time with her wasn’t a great first step in that direction. Or maybe it was? As like a middle ground between competent and absolutely out of control of everything in her life. A transition of sorts. 

_ Too late to think about that, focus on essays Matilda. _

\- Why are you not going to sleep after the day you’ve had? 

\- I could ask you the same thing. Why not take the whole pot of coffee with you? 

\- Well, jokes on you, half of it fits in this mug, and it’s enough at once. Come on. 

She carefully opened the door, and walked to her bed, setting the mug on the bedside table. 

\- Make yourself comfortable, try not to knock down anything, there’s an outlet behind you on the wall, and another to your left behind the books. 

Her room wasn’t as clean as she would have liked, but she kept changing the organization of it, moving stuff around, wondering if her desk would be nicer on one side or the other.

He sat down at the end of the bed, a little uncomfortable. Was it his first time in a stranger’s room like this? Probably. 

\- The ceiling looks really good. 

Instinctively, she looked up at the ceiling, smiling when she saw the hundreds of little stars, some shining and some slowly disappearing in the dark. 

\- Thanks. My mom isn’t a fan, but I think it looks great. I’m so glad Sophie didn’t ask for the same… Her room is a little bigger, and the ceiling is higher, it would have been a pain… She wanted pink clouds and stars, and I can’t do that, so I told her we would get someone to do it this summer, when it’s really hot and it will dry fast. 

She looked up the document she had made with references and potential people who could do it. 

\- I slept in another room when it was drying, and Sophie would have to do the same, but she probably wants to sleep with one of us, and no one wants her thousand toys in their bed. So I figured maybe she could spend the weekend with a friend or whatever. 

He didn’t comment, but looked at the references with interest, which surprised her. He probably didn’t want to hear about all that when he just complimented the ceiling. Maybe even just to be polite. 

This just kept getting weirder and weirder. She didn’t know how to act, how to talk, how to do anything. She was well aware that the lack of sleep played a big role into it, but there was nothing to do about it. She didn’t really have the occasion to go to sleep right now. 

She should have thought better when choosing her classes - not that she knew she would be moving and doing online school when she did. 

\- It will look good I’m sure. For her birthday? 

\- Maybe. It’s in late july. 

She took a big sip of coffee, grimacing at the taste. She knew two spoons of sugar weren’t enough. 

\- Okay but for real, why are you not sleeping? 

\- Not used to sleeping so early, wouldn’t fall asleep. And I want to get started too. 

She should have expected that. She sighted and got up, looking for the key she had put in a drawer on her desk. Under the journal she kept with photos and other memories, as well as writing. She easily found it, and thanked her lucky star because she was never able to find anything she was looking for usually, and gave it to him. 

\- I trust you to follow the instructions and get the code you need while I bullshit this essay before helping you out. 

He raised an eyebrow, the key still in his hand, but looking hesitant to go. 

\- What?

\- Still late with homework? 

\- Yeah well, it doesn’t do itself sadly. Got a bunch of classes with teacher who thinks it's our only classes and give a little too much work. What can you do. 

He moved closer to her, looking at the subject of the assignment. 

\- Well, that a teacher who’s not afraid of pushing people. Whatever you write submit it to this website -

He had taken the laptop and was writing the address of a website she didn’t know. How could someone type so fast? 

When the page loaded, it looked very academic, but also very unorganized, so she wasn’t sure where to look first. 

\- -it’s a place where they give grants and stuff based on submissions, I’m sure you can find a category where yours would fit. They’re not well known outside of colleges but everyone can apply. 

\- Oh, okay, thanks. Don’t think my coffee induced writing is gonna convince anyone but who knows. 

\- Also for this subject, look at philosophy, and the notion of the other person, who do we consider to be like us, and who do we consider to be the “other”, like different from us. I know some people have written about it in recent years and it could be a good argument. 

She took a good look at him in that moment. How focused he was, typing fast and thinking even faster about potential clues he could give her.

His hair was a mess, so were his clothes, but he had that spark in his eyes, the thing that made her realize how smart he was. 

He was really cute. 

_ What the fuck are you thinking right now? _

Catching herself before she could fall into more stupid thoughts, she thanked him and got to work. She wasn’t about to let herself catch any sort of feeling for anyone, especially not him. 

_ Why not?  _

Drinking more coffee, she hoped her thoughts would drown in it or be killed by how boring philosophy always was. She didn’t have time for this. She only had time for this essay which was due too soon. 

_ Forget the cute boy and focus on your work. _

  
  



	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to post yesterday because I was playing dragon quest builders so that means two chapters today!

When Leo came back from the basement, she could see in his face that she should have went with him. 

_ Did it work? If the key doesn’t work he’s going to gut me on the spot oh my god. _

\- Leo are you okay? Wait no. You’re not gonna answer that. Okay, is the thing that's bothering you something that can be fixed in, say, 10 minutes? 

He looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

\- Okay… Not asking any more questions then. 

And then he smiled. He fucking smiled. 

\- Just thinking back on the fact that you went alone to London and didn’t even think about the danger. 

\- What? 

\- Seriously Mattie, if someone had been there and they had taken you, no one would have ever known! 

They were going to do this now? 

\- That’s what you think? Well, what about the fact that nobody cared before anyway? It’s not like it had been a day or two Leo. It had been months. No one even just mentioned it here. They all acted like nothing happened. You too. You can't just say “no one would have known” when no one cared what I was doing. My mom let me do online school despite the technicals, she has no idea if I even registered for the same classes or if I changed everything. Yes it maybe wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever done but at least I wasn’t sitting on my ass waiting for things to happen for once. 

She took a big inspiration, trying to calm herself down. They were not going to yell at each other and say things they didn't think. It wasn’t going to happen. Especially not the first day. 

_ Nope. Not happening. _

\- Look, I don’t care anymore, it’s done and we can’t change that. 

He sighed and pushed his laptop away, getting closer to her. Oh oh. 

\- You’re wrong. People are worried about you Mattie. I had set up alerts based on all of your names, so that if anything happened and made it to the news or a police report I could access, we’d know. Mia and Max were worried too. I can’t say for Niska, but I’m sure she cares too, even if she’ll never admit it. It’s just… I’m sorry I didn’t contact you before. I thought all of you wouldn’t want to hear from us anymore. Like, ever again. 

He looked really sorry, but she still couldn't believe he never read the message. Come on. Not like he completely stopped going online. 

\- Come on Leo, whatever. 

\- No I’m serious. I was avoiding every forum and website where people already knew me, just in case Hobb knew about them. But I didn’t really have any way of contacting you otherwise. You were the only one who knew and… 

Then he hesitated. She’d never seen him like this, but she was too tired to care. She’d marvel at the fact that he’d been really honest the next day, when she would surely wake up at two in the afternoon. 

\- Yes? 

\- Mia had been trying to get me to contact you for a while. She kept saying you’d be willing to help, but I didn’t want to bother you. If I’d known… 

She couldn’t help but laugh. 

\- Seems like the universe was working against you for a while then. 

\- Yeah. Had a couple of plans smashed at the same time. You know, I was this close to start renovating the place! 

They both smiled, and the tension was gone. He didn’t seem to want to move, so she did, giving him space next to her, so they could lie next to each other, and she could also access her coffee. Which was going down a little too fast for her taste, because it meant she’d have to go get some more. 

Or.

She could make hot chocolate. 

Oh that would be fantastic. It would make her very sleepy, but that didn’t matter. 

\- Okay, well, before you renovate anything there, we can do a bunch of improvements in here. The kitchen is sooo outdated. Apparently it’s really expensive to change, which is annoying, but now we have you, pro of making things. 

\- Yeah yeah sure, I hope it’s well paid. 

\- Yeah, in chocolate chips. 

Her mom had accidentally ordered 2 kg of chocolate chips during her latest grocery delivery, and now they kept joking it was the new currency in the house. 

\- What? But you don’t have that much. I’m worth at least a thousand chocolate chip an hour. 

\- Dude. No way I’m counting them. You need to be worth a weight or nothing. 

He laughed and made himself comfortable, pulling his laptop on him, and plugging the key into it.

\- Let’s see if this worked. 

\- You followed the instructions?

\- Yeah, it seemed to go as planned, with the lights and everything. Don’t know if there’s enough space on it… 

That was a good point, which she hadn’t thought about. 

\- And if not?

\- Well, we’ll tear this little thing apart from the inside and make our own but with more space. 

\- We could do that? 

\- Sure. It’s just code, like everything else you know. But it would take weeks or months to make it work, and we’d need to get a synth somewhere to try it on, injecting it a big quantity of code and then trying to pull it. A whole other project. 

It was a little too much, even for her. She liked making things on her own, but that was too big of a project. She really hoped it would all be there. 

\- It seems to all be there. Similar to the weight of Mia’s code. Should be good. 

She let out the breath she'd been holding, and thought about focusing on her own work again. But she didn’t really want to. It was a boring essay, that she didn’t want to start caring about because then she’d get emotionally invested, and then she’d be obsessed with it for a while. 

\- We should get a server set up in here, that only us can access, so we can work at the same time. 

\- Uh. What do we need to set that up? 

\- Getting an actual server would be ideal but it’s expensive for a project. Could make one out of a computer. 

She nodded and got up, struggling to untangle her feet from the blanket. She’d been getting comfortable, sipping on her coffee, her feets warmed by the blanket and the rest of her by Leo next to her. She would have probably fallen asleep quickly if she hadn’t had so much caffeine in her body. 

\- I have an old laptop lying around. Well, not too old, but a big part of the screen was damaged. I think it’s Toby, by accident, but he never admitted it. Getting it replaced was more expensive than what we’d paid for it so… I always told myself that I would learn how to replace it, but never did. 

She reached for the laptop, which she knew was under a pile of old school supplies that she didn’t use anymore, as she wasn’t forced to take notes on paper anymore. 

She felt Leo watching her, but tried not to pay attention to it. 

She also got a few cords from a drawer on her desk, to be able to use the screen of her current laptop on the old one, to see what she was doing. 

\- Why do you just have a random laptop lying around? 

\- Broken screen. Do you not? 

\- No. I try to keep things light, can’t carry everything when you have to run. 

It was too late to ask questions on that. And he’d just arrived anyway, he was probably ready to run again any second now. It wouldn’t have surprised her, but it certainly would have made her sad. 

\- Yeah, well, I don’t run, ever. Running is not for me. Like any other kind of sport. So I can keep all the stuff I want! Also I have two bedrooms now, so that’s nice. 

\- Two bedrooms? You used the other one before? 

\- Nah, just one here and one in London. I left a lot of stuff there, don’t need most of it. 

\- Ah. 

When she turned on the spare computer, she was surprised to see the screen wasn’t so bad after all. 

\- Well, not as broken as I remember. Can you do whatever you need to do with half a screen? 

\- Yeah, why?

\- Because I still have this essay to write, and I don’t think the word count changed on its own, no matter how much I wish it did. 

\- How long does it need to be. 

\- 2.5 to 3k words. Which is a bit much for something we didn’t even study in class but… 

She shook her head and he smiled. Almost laughed. Which was insane and unexpected and kind of awesome. 

\- Yeah well get started Shakespeare, because I’m not helping you anymore. 

\- Shakespeare, really? 

\- Yeah, writer and all that.

\- I’ll let you know that I’m pretty good at creative writing and have completed quite a few short stories, for which I received great grades. Fucker. 

\- Okay okay, if you say so. Not sure that will be useful for your essay, but who am I to know, a simple peasant with no education. 

\- Exactly! I’m always right, you should know that. Did I tell you already? 

\- I think you mentioned it once… 

She couldn't contain her smile. That was the Leo she missed that day. Quick, funny, and a little shit. 

It had become a running joke between them. Every time she was wrong or unsure about something, she reminded him that she was always right, and he agreed, while telling her how ignorant he was. It was always really imaginative and she loved hearing whatever he came up with every time. 

She decided to at least write the basic outline of the essay before focusing back on what he was doing. It was interesting and she wanted to know, but she also didn’t want to fail her classes any more than she already was. 

It was not going great. It really wasn’t. She was always doing work last minute, and some of the subjects she had a really hard time understanding. She always showed up for lectures, but most of them were recorded ahead of time, so she could just watch them whenever. 

But she couldn’t let herself get overwhelmed, especially not now. She had to keep working hard when she had the time for it, and it would be fine. 

Also, she had learn to touch type just for the purpose of spending less time on essays and other things like it. It had to be worth something, right? 

She wasn’t reaching any higher than 55 words per minute, but it was higher than the speed at which she used to type before, so that was nice. She had been struggling for weeks to get to that speed. 

When the outline was complete, she looked over at Leo. 

\- So, how’s it going? 

\- You’re done already?

\- I made the outline. Come on it’s so boring, tell me what you’re doing. 

He shook his head but explained anyway. It was mostly notions she already knew, but had never learned how to use them all together. It was pretty fun, and she asked many questions. He kept answering them, no matter how annoying she felt she was. It was nice, to have someone who she could ask, and not only a pre recorded lecture and a prof that answered emails twice a week. 

\- You’re just as curious as before. Not satisfied with your classes?

\- How can you tell? 

\- Well, you do everything last minute. When you’re interested in something you get obsessed with it. I’ve seen it. So it’s just not interesting you and you wait to be forced to do it. Also you’ve barely told me about it, unlike things that you like or care about. 

Maybe she wasn’t as complex as she would have liked to think she was, then. 

_ But at least he remembers when I tell him about something I like. Nice. _

\- Yeah. I’m not great at online classes it turns out. But it’s fine, once it’s done I will have to choose a college maybe, so no more online classes during summer. 

College. 

Something she’d avoided thinking about for the longest time. But her mom had been asking her repeatedly, until she told her that she didn’t even wanted to go. 

For what? It wasn’t like there were many things needed anymore. She was aware that synths were mostly in “unqualified” jobs so far, for repetitive tasks, things that people didn't like to do. And she also knew that people would always be needed to supervise the synths, make sure everything went smoothly. But she didn’t know if that was the path for her. She enjoyed programming and web dev, but could it be her thing? Was it even something she would like doing as a job? Tutoring a couple students and giving a hand on a few projects was vastly different than working for a company. 

When she was a little younger, she liked baking a lot. So much that she thought she wanted to be a baker. Making beautiful cakes and heavily decorating them was great, but making small ones was what she liked the most. She made each of them unique, and it was something people liked a lot. Her mom offered to maybe try to sell a few one day, to get some pocket money for something she’d been wanting. Of course Laura would handle the “adult” part, and Mattie would only make the cake. 

It had seemed really exciting, but she only did it a dozen times. She hated the fact that she had to respect an order. Do something that people had asked, even when it wasn’t a great idea. Even when the colors of taste they chose weren’t great. Even when it was clearly not something she would enjoy doing. 

It had been a valuable lesson in life. She learned that she didn’t like being told to do things, and that baking wouldn’t be a great job for her unless she owned a place and got to decide on what to sell. Like owning a coffee shop with friends, if she had friends. 

\- Don’t want to talk about it? 

\- I mean, unless you know the perfect solution for me, not really. My mom is already annoying enough. 

\- Don’t worry, she’ll let it go eventually. 

\- Hmm. Unlikely. I’m still the first kid, got to give a great example for the other two. Which is not exactly going great right now…

They stayed silent for a little while, watching a little bar slowly filling itself as the program he was running completed its task. 

\- Did you go to college?

\- Do you think I did? 

She’d never really thought about it. She didn’t even know his age… 

\- I don’t think you did. But I don’t even know your age so either you’re not old enough to have completed a degree yet or you’re really old and just look young for your age. 

\- Hey, I’m not that old.

She burst out laughing but quickly covered her mouth. Better not let everyone know they weren’t sleeping yet. 

\- Dude, that’s exactly what an old person would say! 

\- Okay okay, how old do you think I am then? 

\- Oldest you can be I’d say twenty six. Youngest would be twenty two. 

He made a face at her. 

\- What ?

\- Twenty six? Really? 

\- Okay maybe twenty eight.

\- Mat! 

She smiled. He made it so incredibly easy for her sometimes. 

The thought of writing her essay crossed her mind, but she quickly pushed it aside. This was too good of a moment, she could afford to give the work late if it meant she kept enjoying it. 

\- Okay, tell me then. 

\- I’ll be twenty two in like, three weeks or so. I didn’t think you’d think I’m so old… 

\- Wait, it’s your birthday soon? 

\- Uh… No?

\- Leo. What day is it. If you don’t tell me I’ll ask Mia and she will tell me. 

He rubbed his face. 

\- Fine. It’s the 29.

She glanced at the computer. Today was the 11th. That gave her some time to figure out what to do, as well as get him a gift of some sort. 

She pretty much guessed that he didn’t like being reminded of his birthday, but she also knew that no one liked being forgotten. They didn’t have to make a big even of it, but she wouldn’t just let him go unnoticed. 

\- But it’s not important, no point in telling the others, okay? 

She just raised an eyebrow at him. As if. 

\- You like cakes? I won’t tell anyone myself, but I’ll still make a cake. What flavour? 

\- … Are you seriously going to make a cake? 

\- Well, yeah. I love baking, why wouldn’t I? Especially with the fine kitchen we have. 

He shook his head. 

\- Whatever. I just don’t like kiwi. 

\- Color?

\- Not blue. Other than that whatever. 

\- Awesome! 

She’d do her usual cake then, a mix of orange and pink for the frosting, but that tasted like chocolate. Because chocolate was the best thing ever, no one could deny that. 

\- Better tell the rest of my family how old you are, because I’m sure they’re guessing you’re older than what I though. 

\- Please let me forget about this. If someone else tells me I’m over 25 my hair is going to turn grey. Now focus on your work or I’ll do it for you and send it with your hello kitty email address. 

\- How do you know about that? 

\- Genius secret. Get to work.

  
  
  
  



	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter, at 5k words. I still can't believe I wrote that! Hope you enjoy :)

\- Do you think it would work? 

\- Honestly, I don't have a better idea for now. We can’t just guess and delete whatever, and then try. It’s too dangerous. My option takes longer but at least it’s safe. 

\- I’m still worried about the memory losses. I hope everything is contained in there. 

\- Me too…

She was focused on her work, and yet managed to have a conversation with him at the same time. He was amazed. 

She hadn’t been joking when she said she liked baking. She had made so many cupcakes in the last week that he would be unable to remember all the flavours even when trying really hard. 

Today, they were lemon flavored, and she was covering them in some kind of frosting. He wasn’t sure what was in it, but it tasted delicious. 

She’d started by making flowers on top of the muffins, saying she “needed to work on her piping”, and was now adding leaves to them, with a frosting of a different color. 

\- Won’t the frosting fall at some point?

\- No don’t worry. It’s made for this, even when the weather is hot like it is now. 

For once, they were both awake and it wasn’t the middle of the night. 

After the first night they’d spend here, he completely crashed. He had still been stressed and worried about something going wrong, but the feeling of safety got to him pretty quickly. 

Things felt familiar and new at the same time. He was amazed, because it felt like no one could touch them, ever. 

They had been pretty sure that the people still running after them had lost their track. After all, they had spent a long time in hiding in the same place, and no one bothered them. So why now would they suddenly be found? 

He’d spent 26 hours sleeping, and when he finally woke up, everyone was relieved. They couldn’t exactly take him to a hospital to get checked up. 

Max and Toby had been getting along greatly, with Toby’s new interest in comic book, and Max wanting to know about everything. It was nice to see his brother connect with someone like that, and he hoped they would become good friends.

Sophie was still obsessed with Mia, and Niska obviously, but also with dancing. He had had three dance demonstration, and she even tried to give him a lesson. She agreed not to do it again if he watched Moana with her and Mattie “often and without falling asleep”. He’d promptly agreed. 

He’d also helped Mattie catch up on her homework a little, so that she wouldn’t spend her nights on it and her days on helping him. She couldn’t last very long that way, he knew it. 

Her phone started ringing, and she sighted. It wasn’t the first time, and he wondered if she had been added to a spam list or something. 

She wiped her hand and got to it, listened to a couple seconds and hung up. 

\- Spam call?

\- Yeah in a way. 

\- Why not block them? 

\- It’s a different number all the time, and I can’t really change numbers right now, I still have a few people who need to contact me and won’t know about the new number. 

He raised an eyebrow, wanting to know more, but she didn’t say anything, focusing on her cupcakes again. Maybe it was personal, he wasn’t going to push her. He couldn’t help but noticed that she was much less happy than she’d been previously. 

\- Do I get to eat the leftover frosting this time? 

She smiled and shook her head. 

\- Yes, just like baby Sophie, baby Leo will get some frosting. Why do you guys like it so much on its own. It’s much better on a cake. Especially one made by me. 

\- True, but it doesn’t mean the frosting that has no cake should be lost. 

Everyone had been gently pushing him to eat more, he’d noticed. Laura was giving him a lot of food, and Mattie always had snacks on hand, handing him one every now and then. Mia didn’t say anything when he told her about it, but she had that little side smile than meant she was aware of it, and happy that it was happening. 

When Mattie had started making frosting, Sophie immediately wanted to have some saved for her, so Mattie made her a rose on a small plate, and gave her a spoon. Then, she made one for Leo too. It had surprised him, since she hadn’t even started to decorate the cake she had made that day. 

Sophie had been surprised too, apparently she was always the only one who could get one, her cute face and puppy eyes convincing her sister where others failed. 

\- What is the third color for by the way? 

\- Will you wait a minute? I should make these at three in the morning so that no one would know about them and I could eat them all. 

\- You think the delicious smell of fresh cake wouldn’t wake us all up?

She made a face, and then looked him in the eye with a mischievous smile. She usually made one or two colors, and today she made four. 

\- You know, maybe you could do the third color. That way you wouldn't need to question me so much. 

\- No no no. No way I’m doing this. 

\- Yes way, come on over here. 

She dropped what she was doing and got a plate, then selected three cupcakes. 

He wasn’t sure what the results of this were going to be, but she had a lot of fun decorating the cakes, so maybe it would be enjoyable for him too. And he liked when she taught him things, it was nice and made him feel like life wasn’t so bad. Maybe he’d even get a nice dream about it, to end all the usual nightmares. 

He’d been getting a lot of them, like he usually did when there was a big change in his life. When they’d been on the run, he never went a night without them. It had become the norm. But when they got a chance to settle a little bit, they would slowly go away. Moving here was such a big change that he was worried he’d wake up screaming and everyone would come and tell him how annoying it was. He’d asked Max to wake him up if it ever happened, but he hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. 

Then last night, he’d had a dream. Real, nice dreams were really rare. He almost never had them, and when he did they often turned to a nightmare at some point. But last night, it hadn’t. And she’d been in his dream. 

She looked different, she had hair that was a lot longer, despite the fact that she kept talking about cutting them, and her eyes were much brighter than they usually were. They had been walking in a forest, talking nonsense about making a tree house and going to the supermarket. Regular dream conversation. 

But right at the end, she took his hand and smiled at him. 

He’d woken up really shaken. He didn’t know if he should tell anyone about it, or keep it to himself. 

It had felt like such a nice moment. A real dream. Peaceful, sort of weird, but really happy. 

He focused back on the moment, and got up and moved closer to her, ready to learn. 

\- Okay, it’s pretty simple, but the first ones are going to be terrible. It’s a fact, and with practice you get to do what you want like you want to. The quality of the frosting plays a role. This one is fine, the one I made monday was better, but whatever. You hold it like this. 

She demonstrated, and he followed her example. It didn’t seem very natural or easy, but it couldn’t be that complicated, right? 

\- Okay, on the plate you’re going to do this. See? You make a sort of 8 motion with your hand, and try to keep the pressure even, so that it’s always consistent. The goal is to not break it, so it’s always similar, and almost seamless. 

Following her movements, he made the motion she demonstrated, not pressing on the pouch yet, so that no frosting would come out. 

\- Like this? 

\- Yes, perfect. Now just stay a little bit above the plate. If you’re too high it will fall and break, and too low you risk mushing it with the tip. 

The one she had given him had a star tip. She’d used it before on a big cake to make little shapes, but not this. He wasn’t sure what it was meant to look like, but he sure hoped he wasn’t wasting anything. 

Like she said, his first attempt was shit. He broke it after just half a motion, and it didn’t look very even. 

\- Pretty good! Try picking up where it broke. Yeah, like this. 

Then, to his surprise, she took his hands to help him get the hang of it. She pressed harder than he had, but she was also more confident and moving faster. She clearly had a lot of practice. The place where she had started from his fail was almost invisible. 

\- See, if you turn your hand like this, it will push it out so you don’t have to stop. Also, you can try switching your hands if you think it would be easier. 

Just as quick as she put them on his, she took her hands back. 

He was pretty sure his face was bright red, but he just nodded and did as she said. 

After a couple attempts, he managed to make a pretty decent shape, and he was proud of himself. 

\- It’s great. Okay now you’re going to make this.

She took the pipe from his hands and refilled it with more frosting from a bowl, then made a little shape like the previous time, a little rounded star, with a very pointy tip. Was he supposed to make this too? 

\- This is like, a little mountain of sorts? I don’t really know how to call it. Well, make a couple, and then you’re going to put some on the sides of the three cupcakes that I chose. 4 of these, forming a square, or as close as possible. They’re terrible so don’t worry about making it awesome, they’re already bad. 

She took another cupcake. 

\- Ew, this one too. Okay so here, like this, and then three others. Okay? 

\- I’ll try, how do they not fall? 

\- It’s pretty light but also strong, so it won’t fall unless it’s pushed. And of course after a while when it’s not fresh, but they won’t survive that long. 

Doing as he was told, he trained and then decorated the three little cupcakes. It wasn’t even or pretty, but it existed and nothing fell down, which was pretty good. 

\- They’re great! You’re really good at this. 

\- They’re okay. Not as nice as yours. How do you make them even?

\- I don’t, sometimes I’m lucky and they are, sometimes they’re not. It’s whatever. We’re not selling them so who cares really. 

It was a good point. He never really looked at what she did and tried to see if it was even or not. It was mostly very pretty and delicious. Everyone had to agree on that. 

\- Would you mind doing a couple other ones? You don’t have to. 

\- No it’s fine. Other ugly ones. 

\- Honestly whatever, there’s like two that I think are good anyways so… 

\- Ah come on, they’re perfect. You’re too hard on yourself. 

He picked another cupcake, and added decorations to it, doing so until there weren’t any left. He was almost out of frosting, so it was nice that it was finished. 

She had taken the fourth color and added the final touches, making them all really pretty. He wondered where she had learn to bake that well, and if she was aware of how good she was. No one else in the family seemed interested in baking. 

He took another plate in one of the cupboard, figuring he didn’t need to ask, and tried to make some other shapes with the little bit of frosting he had left. Someone would get to eat his little blobs no matter how pretty they were anyways. 

\- Okay, I think it’s all good. I won’t be adding any sugar decorations this time because they tasted kind of weird. I think they’re getting a bit old… 

They cleaned the kitchen, easily working together. It always amazed him how easy it was to work with her, no matter what it was. They just understood each other really well. It was like they had grown up together, which they really hadn't. They’d known each other for less than a year. And yet, here they were, cleaning the kitchen after making too many cupcakes and decorating them. 

Pulling him from his thoughts, her phone rang once again. Mattie, elbow deep in soapy water, almost dropped the plate she was washing. 

\- Oh my fucking -

\- Do you want me to answer? 

\- Uh sure, if it’s a woman give her to me otherwise just hang up. 

He nodded and answered the phone. She didn’t looked too pleased but maybe it was just another spam. 

\- Hello? 

_\- Who the fuck are you ?_

The man on the other hand sounded really angry. Not a woman though, so he just hung up on him. He was pretty sure it wasn’t Joe, he would have been saved as a contact, and he probably wouldn’t recognize his voice anyway. But better not put that theory to the test. 

\- Angry guy, not very polite, didn’t even say hello. Did someone put your number on a spam list or something? 

\- No it’s just… It doesn’t matter. This one goes into the same cupboard as regular plates, but under all the others. It’s a little bigger. 

\- Sure. 

She didn’t seem to want to expand on the phone calls, but he could see how annoyed she was. But it wasn’t only that. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, so he was not going to try and guess. He just hoped it wasn’t putting anyone in danger. 

*

It was almost dinner time, and Leo had fallen asleep. 

It wouldn’t have been a problem, if he had fallen asleep anywhere else than on her bed.

She didn’t mind it, it was rather nice to see him so relaxed and peaceful. He was always so tense and on edge, constantly looking around, even in the safety of the house. 

But he’d fallen asleep on her bed, right before someone was going to come fetch them, and get the wrong idea. They hadn’t cuddled or anything, it wasn’t like the were any sort of close, but she knew her siblings. Toby would give her The Look, and Sophie would tell every single living soul she could find. 

But she didn’t want to wake him up. He was always going to sleep after her, and waking up a lot earlier. She knew he probably barely slept because of habit, but it couldn’t be healthy. 

Feeling her phone buzz in her pocket, she sighed and got up, going to the hallway. If that woman would call her some day, she would be able to block Harun once and for all by changing her number. 

Carefully closing the door, she hoped she didn’t wake him up. It would suck, but at least it would take care of the problem. 

Surprisingly, it was her dad. 

\- Hi dad, how are you? 

\- I’m good. And you?

\- All good, busy with homework. 

\- I’m calling you because Harun showed up here something like an hour ago? Wanted to talk to you, he seemed pretty angry. Said you were with a boy? He seemed pretty upset and ready to do something stupid, what’s going on. 

_Oh my fucking god he didn’t._

\- That would be my ex boyfriend who is not taking the fact that I moved so far away very well. He’s pretty harmless don’t worry, he just keeps calling me so… 

Was he jealous because Leo had picked up her phone? It could have been anyone. But anyone would have probably said their names and offered to give her the phone. 

_Shit._

\- One of Toby’s friend answered because I was doing the dishes, probably thought I had a new boyfriend. Whatever. I’m just waiting for a call from a school administrator before I can change my number anyway. 

\- You should tell the police about this Mattie, it’s pretty important. Did you tell him to stop calling you? 

\- Dad I’m not gonna tell the police, it’s fine I can handle him. I'll tell him you offered to do it, he’s probably going to calm down. If he shows up again just call them, okay? 

\- Okay, but be careful, alright? I’ll call again this weekend, I want to talk to the others as well, but I’m guessing it’s dinner time. 

\- Right, same time every day! 

\- Okay, well, have a nice meal, talk to you this weekend, bye. 

\- Bye, take care. 

School administrator. Right. Not a complete lie. 

She rubbed her face and put her phone back in her pocket, not finding the strength to message Harun right away. Calling her with every number on earth he could find, okay, but going to her house to talk with her dad, not fine. Not fine at all. 

When she walked back into the room, Leo was glaring at her, sitting on the bed, fully awake. 

_Please, like I need this._

Whatever he heard, it wasn’t good. Well, better explain everything that way she wouldn’t have to argue and prove that she meant well. Whatever. It wasn’t like the day could get any worse. 

Right as she thought so, her phone rang again, unknown number. 

_Karma, universe, whatever, I fucking hate you so much._

\- What now? 

\- Ah so you’re the one-

\- If you call me one more time there will be consequences okay. Going to my house, really? You’re just gonna end up with bigger problems than I’m worth. Forget about it, I don’t wanna hear any excuses or explanations or anything. 

Not waiting for an answer, she hung up, and resisted the urge to throw her phone at the wall. It wasn’t the solution, it wasn’t going to make her problems go away, she needed to deal with them like an adult. 

\- What is- 

\- Don’t even start. I don’t care what you believe I don’t have the energy for it. My dad called because my ex showed up at his house after you answered my phone. He cheated on me and now acts like it’s my fault. Whatever. My dad doesn’t know you’re here, I don’t wanna go to the cops when I can just change my number, no one knows you’re here, nothing has changed except now you know the full extent of the failure that is my life. Can we forget about it? 

She felt breathless and on the verge of tears. She was probably going to cry anyway. Couldn’t the world just leave her alone for a little bit. She was doing okay with school so now she had to deal with Harun, then in three or four days there would be something new to take care of. And that lady who promised to call her back and never did. 

Then she heard someone, Toby judging by the fast and regular sound of footsteps, climbing the stairs, and she knew that if he made just a single comment she was going to lose it. 

*

She was about to cry. 

That, or punch someone. First option that was presenting itself was the person currently climbing the stairs. Second was himself, obviously. 

He had to make things a little better because there was no way he was dealing with Mattie crying and someone else being offended for being yelled at despite having done nothing wrong. 

He got up and went to the door. 

He heard her sigh, probably thinking he was just going to leave the room, but he could clear that up in a minute. 

When he opened the door, Toby was about to knock. He seemed surprise, but didn’t protest when Leo gently pushed him backwards, closing the door behind them. 

\- Hey, I know your mom is a little strict on time, but your sister is about to go insane if anyone annoys her any more so will you -

\- Yeah okay, I’ll tell her. Good luck try not to get your ass kicked. She get really mean when angry! 

And in a flash, he was going downstairs again. Well, at least Leo wouldn’t have to deal with the adults in this house, so it was good. He still refused to consider himself an adult, no matter how old he was. 

She didn’t look at him when he came back into the room, but he didn’t miss the way she quickly wiped her tears. 

She was furiously typing on her laptop, and he felt sorry for whoever was going to have to read that message. 

He sat on the bed and waited until she was ready to look at him. 

After a while, she just shut her laptop and rested her back on the wall. It was his chance. 

\- Do you want me to do something about him? 

\- What can you do? 

\- Well you know, there’s many way to make someone pay. I like pranks but he’s probably a little far for that. Still, I’m sure we can find something that doesn’t involve any kind of police. 

She smiled, and he thought it would be the end of it. 

\- You know, I told him I was moving like a week before? I don’t even know why I was with him. I guess I didn’t want my life to feel so fucking empty anymore. Everyone at home pretended nothing happened, as if you and the others never existed. I hated it, but what could I do? 

He hadn’t asked, but now that she had started it didn’t seem like she was going to stop. 

\- He was pretty much my only real friend at school. I had other people I knew in some classes, but never some real friendships. I went to this specific, private, expensive high school because I had good grades in middle school, and my parents thought it could give me a nicer future. The kids all knew each other since pretty much borth. Rich kids, all of them, used to private school and its weird ways. My friends from before promised they would forget me and that we would stay friends. Which lasted for about a month before it was done. 

She had tears in her eyes again, but she didn’t seem to care. It broke his heart, but he was also starting to see where she was going with her story, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it. 

\- I don’t have childhood friends, and now I don’t have high school friends either, I’m almost done anyway, what’s going to happen? When I realized that everyone at home was going to keep pretending, I decided that I was going to do it myself. Because that’s always what I have to do in the end. Just like when I was younger and my mom promised she would stop fighting with my dad when we were here, but they didn’t and I had to take care of the two other because they didn’t know how to react. So I did the research, didn’t get any news from you, not that I expected any to be honest, and then we moved here and I went back to london to find out that my still boyfriend, who’d barely been talking to me, was cheating on me pretty openly, and that Fred wasn’t there and no one thought to tell me. I felt so fucking angry and betrayed, but mostly I was really scared. I thought something had happened to you, someone had found you, anything could have happened. You have no fucking idea how fucking scared I was!

She angrily wiped her tears. He’d never seen her in such a rage, like she could have eviscerated him on the spot if he moved just a hair. 

\- And then you showed up like nothing happened, and once again I was the friend of convenience, the person you go to when you need something but forget right after. Just like I always was throughout school and will probably keep being for the rest of my life. But I was so relieved, because you were all fine, everything was well, everyone was safe! And now I can't get rid of this stupid boy because I’m still trying to help you no matter what I ever get in return, and every time I think things can’t suck more, they do ! 

She wiper her face one more, eyes closed, and took a deep breath.

He should have known better, really. It wasn’t like he always was convinced that she hated him or something, but it was easier to think that she wanted to move on like the rest of her family did than to think maybe she missed him too. 

He wasn’t an idiot, he was aware that in those kinds of situations, you get close to people. There’s something between you that others don’t understand. 

Danger makes you closer.

But he didn’t think she’d feel that way. He thought she would just go back to her normal life, maybe not forget, but be glad it was over. They were safe, the danger was behind them. It would become a story, the one all parents have, of illegal things they did when they were young. 

Or so he thought. 

He didn’t know what to do. what to say to make her feel better. To make her realize that it wasn’t meant to be that way, and that she had just been unlucky. But what could he say, really? It’s not like he had any kind of lasting friendship, like he had people he’d known forever, like he had real relationships with anyone outside of his family for most of his life. 

But he had to find something, because he couldn't just let her believe that this was all her life was going to be. It wasn’t easy to feel like a stranger even to the people you consider to be friends. 

He decided to take a risk, and if she broke his nose it would be fine. And so he moved closer to her, put an arm around her shoulder, and gently pressed his hand on her arm. She didn’t seem to be against it so he took it as a sign that it was fine. 

\- Your friends suck, I don’t even think you should call them friends at any point. What kind of idiot does that? I don’t count because you already told me I’m stupid, and the fact that I’m very sorry won’t change what happened. But I know that out there there’s someone that’s going to become your best friend forever. 

She laughed weakly, not believing him.

\- Yeah I know, it’s pretty lame, but it’s all I can tell you. I know adults always say that highschool is the best time ever and that you should make your best memories there, but for most people it sucks. Gotta say you hit the jackpot. 

Without thinking, he started tracing little patterns on her arm with his fingers. She seemed more calm.

Taking him by surprise, she started talking again.

\- Sorry for being like this. I don’t do very well with stress. And I did hit the jackpot, I met you. Well more like I lured you into a bar and then you realized I was the thing missing from your life because I’m so fabulous. 

He smiled. She had no idea how right she was. 

\- And then you went to live in a castle for a while but realized you had no one to make your slave, so you came back here to use my family. Doesn’t make you seem very nice I gotta say. 

She rested her head on his shoulder and he wasn't exactly how many brain cells he had before but they all died in that instant. 

\- Yeah well, you forgot the part where I tried to rule the world but failed. Makes me much more interesting and also makes my real motivation clear. I have to rule the world, it’s my destiny. 

\- Chill macbeth, you’re not gonna do anything before we go for dinner, or my mom is gonna have my head. You know how she gets.

\- I don’t, but if it runs in the family I don’t think I want to know. 

She laughed, for real this time, and he hoped she’d keep feeling better and better. It wasn’t the end of it, the problems were still there, but at least she was happier, and she’d let out all the emotions. 

For a few minutes, they kept talking about his various evil plans, and the way she was a key element in all of them, and it seemed to take her mind off of everything that wasn’t going the way she wanted to. 

He didn’t really want to move, he was fine just where he was, holding her and talking about whatever she wanted. But he knew they should move. He really hoped he didn’t have anything to explain, but he doubted it. At least Toby had prevented Laura from intervening, which was good. 

When they finally went downstairs for dinner, he couldn’t help but hope that something like this would happen again. He know it was stupid, but he was still hopeful that they would get closer somehow. Seemed unlikely. He was her friend, nothing more. And it wasn’t really like she’d want to have someone in her life after everything that happened with the other boy. He didn’t know his name, but if he called again, he would give him a piece of his mind. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate misunderstandings and miscommunications in fiction. They frustrate me a whole lot so I never write them.. Sorry if you think this was resolved too fast !


	16. Chapter 16

It was a stupid idea. A completely stupid idea. And yet for some reason, everyone had agreed to it. 

They were going camping. 

Well, not all of them. She would be staying here, because camping was too much for her. She hated it. 

So did Leo, not a fan of the idea. After spending so long running from everything, he wasn’t sure what it would trigger. He’d been having nightmares apparently. She didn’t really know about it, he wouldn’t say anything, but she had heard Max mention it once. 

Toby was not going with them, but he wasn’t staying either. He was going to spend the weekend camping too, but with a friend from school. He was coming with his family, picking up Toby, and then driving to some really remote place. She hadn’t listened to all the detail, he’d planned it out with Laura. 

Camping. 

When Sophie had asked about it first, it had been about the treehouse that was still somewhere. they had looked for it a little bit, but she wanted it done properly. And well, others had taken an interest in it, and it had transformed into camping.

The weather was nice, and everyone felt relatively safe. They all promised that they would stay in regular contact, just in case, and no one would be really far. Except for Toby, but the trip had been planned for longer, and he didn’t want to bail out on his friend. 

\- Are you sure it’s going to be fine? 

\- Mom come on, we’re two grown adults, we’re able to stay alone for a weekend. It’s almost like you think we’re gonna die of food poisoning from the food you’ve made. 

\- Okay okay, but if there’s anything, call me, fine? 

\- Promised. Now go because I don’t want Sophie to try and drag me into this one more time. 

They all made their goodbyes, Sophie regretting once again that her sister and Leo weren’t coming. She didn’t say anything to Toby, after the fight they had in the morning she refused to talk to him ever again. A weekend away from each other was exactly what they needed. He climbed into the car with his friend, already talking about all the things they were going to do. 

She stood next to Leo, watching the car with her mom and the rest of the gang drive away. They would be going in the forest behind their house but parking the car close to where they would stay, to make it easier to carry everything. Mia and Max had offered to take most of the weight but Laura promptly refused. 

They had been doing their best to teach them how to act like humans, which was fairly easy as it was the thing they’d always done, but also how to think like humans. 

It had been more complicated, because a lot of it came with a regular social life and an understanding of the norms society created. How to behave in public, how to look at someone when they did a certain thing, all of that. Leo was doing good, but Mia and Max were struggling. They often pretended to be synths unless they were just with family. Of course they had observed people, but they’d been more focused on trying to act like any other synth around than any other human. 

Unsurprisingly, Laura had tasked her to teach Leo the stuff he might not know, which was broad and frankly not very helpful. But she had a weekend to figure it out, so maybe she would get a genius idea later in the day. 

Before she left, she’d also said something about sharing a room but Mattie had covered her hears before she could hear anything. Her mom had already talked to her about it more than enough, and it wasn’t in the plans anyway. Sharing anything wasn’t in the plans. 

She’d been very, very aware of anything related to him if she was honest. How could she not? The usual day, she spent most of her time with him. Hell when she was sleeping and he wasn’t he would leave messages for her on the server they shared for work. It wasn’t anything personal, but he always remembered to add smileys after she told him he was really serious and almost a little mean. 

It was the little things that made her heart beat a little faster, and her brain lose focus a little. But with each day he was smiling more and laughing more and living the normal life he deserved. He was still kind of a kid after all. She noticed that he never called himself an adult, and in the beginning she found that odd. But at the same time, it was easy to understand that his life hadn’t been normal and even if he looked old and had more life experience than she ever would, he was still young. 

And of course, the memory of the hug came back way too often. 

Her phone started buzzing in her pocket, taking her out of her thoughts. 

Unknown number. 

\- Think it’s him again? 

She quickly glanced at him, surprised to see him get so dark so suddenly. They hadn’t talked about it again, and she only told her mom that Harun was becoming a bit of a problem, but now he always reacted when he phone made a sound. 

\- Only one way to find out… 

She slide the icon up, and answered. 

\- Hello?

\- Hi, I’m Marjorie, we talked a while ago? 

\- Oh hi, how are you doing? 

She gave Leo a thumbs up, and walked into the living room, looking for a pen and paper. 

\- Sorry to call you so late, I had a lot of things to do and didn’t realize it had been so long. Do you still need the papers? 

\- Yes, I do. You’re my best option for it actually. Can you still make them? 

\- I can. I will need a lot of personal information, so you will send me all of it through a website. Don’t worry it’s safe. Should we go through all of it now? 

\- Yes, it would be great. 

She found a pen and paper and went back to the kitchen, where she felt better working. And for an hour, they talked about details, processes, and the final result she expected. 

She would be paying a lot of money for these. So she wanted to make sure everything was perfect, and there would be no mistake.

Marjorie was a teacher, or someone who worked into the school system. She wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like she was openly giving her identity out on the internet. 

She offered to make fake papers, specifically school papers. So she decided to ask her to make fake records of school for Leo and his family. She wasn’t sure what they would want to do with it, but in case they ever needed a job or wanted to go to school, they would have it. Marjorie was willing to go all the way back to kindergarten, which was absolutely perfect. 

It wasn’t inexpensive, but she had decided that she would go through with it anyways. They deserved to have every little chance they could get. 

When she finally hung up, she had an email from Marjorie waiting for her. It lead to a link where she would have to fill out informations on the person’s life, and what she wanted them to have as subjects, grades, degrees… Everything. They had agreed that Mia and Max could have degrees of some sort. She would talk to them about what exactly they wanted, as well as the school they wanted, and everything like that. 

She had to do it with Leo as well, but she wasn’t looking forward to it really. She hadn’t told him about this, but she already knew he’d be angry. 

He had mentioned already that he would have to repay them, or earn their help, and didn’t seem to agree when she said they didn’t want. She surely didn't. 

He was currently deep in thought, focused on his music and his code. It wasn’t unusual, and she knew better than to disturb him. He always gave her that mean look that was basically saying “it better be important or i’m going to make you regret this”. He was building a tool that would be comparing Fred’s code to Mia’s, and he hoped it would make the amount they had to read a lot smaller than what it currently was. But like everything, it took time and work. She’d been helping, but didn’t know the technology very well, so he had to explain a lot to her. 

She decided it was about time to make lunch anyway. He could stay focused some more and then he’d have to pay attention to her if he wanted some of what she would make. Although  _ make _ was a big word considering Laura had left them enough food for three weeks. She was really scared of them dying of hunger it seemed. Not that they would be completely clueless if they had to cook. 

The last batch of cake she made was gone with the campers, neatly packed in a pink tupperware box, and she wondered if she should make one now. She had time, but maybe Leo was more hungry than she was. 

She opened the notes on her phone and quickly typed, then showed him the screen. She had been doing this when she knew he wouldn’t want to be disturbed. 

“Are you really hungry? If not I’m making a cake”

He shook his head, and she took that as a no. Then cake it was. And while she was at it, she would listen to some music too, that way she didn’t get lost in her thoughts too much. That and look at him too much or weirdly, like she tended to do recently. 

She couldn’t help but wonder what else could have happened when he pretty much hugged her that time. She knew it was probably to make her feel better because she was about to explode, but it had worked. So well that she hoped he would do it again, for smaller things, or even just because. Of course it would never happen. 

_ But a girl can dream. _

She opened her playlist of the month, setting it to shuffle, and left her phone on a counter. It was better if it was out of reach. She’d been trying to cut her social media time, since she was mostly seeing people who used to be her friends and it kept reminding her of the fact that they were no longer friends really. 

Taking her favorite recipe book, she decided to do a raspberry black forest cake. They had frozen raspberries, and she loved that cake too much. It wasn’t too hard, she just had to be careful with the time in the oven so that it didn’t burn. 

While dancing around and making her cake, she wondered if they would still be here for christmas. It was late spring early summer, it was in a long time, but she still hoped that they would. She’d get to make so many delicious things. It would probably be a little complicated with Joe though. She avoided thinking about her dad too much, because the situation was still really messy, and she missed him obviously. Maybe she should go see him sometime. Maybe during the summer. 

When she was done and the cake was in the oven, she took some of the lasagna her mom had made the previous day, heating it up in the oven, and then made two really nice plates with salad and tomatoes and a few herbs to decorate all of it. It looked really nice so she took a photo and put in on her instagram, because who cared. Might as well become that cliche as well as all the others. 

She set the plates on the table, and Leo took the hint, putting his things away. One thing she was thankful for was the fact that he never tried to push others to give him a lot more space, so much that he was isolating himself. He’d done that the first time he was with them, but not this time. She would have hated it, but he hadn’t done it so it was great. He always came with them for meals, and for most evenings watching movies as well. Sophie had lost her privilege of choosing the movie after they watched Moana so much, and it was now in turns. 

Once a week, they ordered take out and watch a movie all together, and it went well. She loved it, and always looked forward to it. Of course since Sophie was watching, Laura sometimes veto-ed some of the movies, but they could still watch another one when the little girl was sent to bed. 

\- Phone call went well? 

\- Yep. 

She sat down at the table, having left her phone on a counter again. 

\- It was a woman named Marjorie. I’ve been waiting for a long time for her to contact me again to be honest. She’s the reason I didn’t want to change numbers. 

\- What’s it for?

\- To get you and the others some school records. 

\- What do you mean? 

She could see in his eyes that he knew something was up. Taking a deep breath, she decided she couldn’t keep it to herself anymore. She’d have to tell him eventually, and she knew it was the right thing to do. 

\- She’s going to make you all appear in school records in places you chose, and it will be completely legit. I mean, you didn’t go there, but it will appear completely legit to any school or job any of you might want to apply to. I know it’s not necessary, but it could always be cool. 

He was looking at her like she’d turned orange and had seven eyes or arms. Seven eyes sounded pretty gross but seven arms wasn't symmetrical and she didn’t know if it was worse. 

\- You mean like a fake diploma or something, right? 

\- No, I mean complete school records of every semester or whatever since you were able to go to school and until the level you want. She can’t give you a Phd or private school degree or some higher education degrees like medicine, but she can do quite a lot. The last piece to make your fake identities complete. 

He shook his head, but strangely he was smiling. This wasn't normal. Wasn’t he supposed to be angry at her for doing this behind his back? 

\- Honestly, I should have been expecting this. You didn’t press when you offered and I refused, so of course you would do it on your own. How much is she asking for? 

\- That is not your problem and will never be. She’s also willing to do Fred in the future, but I want him to decide on what goes in his record, like the rest of you, so you know, it can wait. Also Niska if she wants but I won’t be the one contacting her. She’s too scary for that. 

\- Hmm. You’re dodging the question. I’m not an idiot, something like this must be crazy expensive. 

\- Not your business. And don’t let this get cold, it doesn’t taste as good. 

He didn’t press anymore, instead wondering what school he could have went to, and if he would ask for any degree of any kind, but she knew he would come back to it. He always did anyways. 

They spend the afternoon working on the software they were making to compare the code, and making the cake. Leo helped her once again, and she wondered if he enjoyed it or did it just to be nice to her. He never asked but accepted when she offered him things to do. Maybe he was just too nice and didn’t want to say no. Seemed unlikely, he still gave her a piece of mind every occasion he got. 

The end result was a beautiful cake, that she also took a few pictures of. Why not. She could also show it to Toby when he came back, to make him jealous. It was one of his favorite things to have. He’d been very happy when she started baking again, and told her that he missed it, which made her strangely happy. He’d never told her he liked what she made before. He had when she asked if it was good, but not unprompted. Maybe he was finally growing up enough so that they could get along more. 

Her phone dinged with a photo from her mom, of their campsite. It looked really messy, and Sophie was already covered in dirt. That girl was wild, it wasn’t a surprise. 

She showed it to Leo, who smiled, but didn’t comment. 

Before she realized it, it was almost night time. She’d spent the end of the day on homework, drafting another essay, and finishing an exercise. Making a to do list app. That was an idea from one of her teacher. Code something for your parents. She’d discussed with Laura and decided that a to do list would be pretty useful and easy enough for her to make. She spent too long on the colors, and not enough on everything else, but at least it was done. It wasn’t the best thing ever, but it was done. She just needed the pdf to go with it, to summarize the needs her mom had, and how she answered those needs. A boring part, but if it was well made it could significantly improve a grade. 

They had dinner a little earlier, as well as a piece of cake .She didn’t resist sending Toby a pretty picture she took of it, and his answer was a crying emoji.

\- Want some chocolate? 

\- Sure. Need help? 

\- No it’s fine. 

She tried drinking less coffee. It wasn’t that great for her body and brain. But it was so good when it was well made. And it kept her awake. 

She slowly went downstairs, wondering if she should start some other homework or help Leo. She kept having more and more assignments, and not helping him enough on cleaning the code they’d gotten from Fred. It had been a really long time since they had a chance to see him, and she was sure they all missed him a lot. Apparently Mia got regular updates from Niska, which was good, but for Fred they couldn’t really just chat with him. Hobb might be behind bars, it didn’t mean someone wasn’t still watching for Fred’s signal. 

To make things extra nice, she decided to add some mini marshmallows on top of the cups, as well as some little chocolate sprinkles. She loved it when they started to melt from the heat but didn’t dissolve in the chocolate yet. She also took spoons, to make everything easier, and took another photo. It was for Laura this time, to make sure she knew they were still alive and well, that she didn’t need to come check up on them. 

When she came back upstairs, Leo had closed his laptop and was apparently waiting for her. Which meant trouble. 

_ Please let him not want to talk about the school papers again.  _

\- Don’t tell me you’re tired and about to go to sleep at what, 10 pm? That would be like me getting up at 7. Never happening. 

He smiled and took his cup. Apparently he liked the idea of marshmallows, if the way he was looking at them was any indication. 

\- I’m not. It’s just, about the school thing. 

Ugh. should have expected it. 

\- Look, I don’t care what you think, I’m not going back on this okay? 

\- I know. Just. Do you really think I could go to school again? I mean, like college or something. 

Oh, so that was what it was about. 

He wasn’t looking at her, weirdly focused on his cup, pushing the marshmallows around with the spoon. 

\- Sure, why not? you’re smart and not afraid of work. There’s no reason you couldn’t. Although if you start right after the end of high school you might be really bored. If you go into some sort of tech I mean.

\- Why? 

\- Well, you know most of it already. What I do right now is the equivalent of first year, first semester in some schools. College credit and all. And you can do it all easily, and a whole lot more. 

He hummed and kept pushing the marshmallows around. She knew better than to press him, so she drank her chocolate and waited for him to be ready to talk about whatever was bothering him. 

She had never expected him to be so honest with her, but recently he’d been more and more open. Telling her things about his childhood, some fond memories, some not so much. He also talked a little bit more about their time in the castle, after they’d gotten Fred with them. She was pretty sure he only told her the pretty things, and not the really hard ones. 

\- I think… I’d like to go to some sort or college or university. Something small probably. I’d like to be able to work on real things in the future. Real projects, some legal things. Probably not related to synthetics anymore. 

\- I’m sure you’d be able to find that. Do you want to have a degree already, or maybe say you took a few years of break after high school. 

\- No I want to start from zero. 

\- Okay, let’s look up what’s available. 

She put her now empty cup on the bedside table and laid on her stomach, opening her laptop and putting away all her previously opened tabs. 

Time for some more orientation research. 

After a few hours of looking at schools and programs, she closed her eyes just a few seconds. Leo fell asleep just a few minutes before. She would have to wake him up, but he looked so peaceful. She just needed a minute to motivate herself. She was so cozy here. Why move when she could enjoy it just a little bit more. 

_ In a second…  _

  
  



	17. Chapter 17

It had been an awkward day, if he might say so himself. 

And he knew a whole lot about awkward. A whole lot. It was one of his main emotions, with fear, anxiety, and stress. 

A nice cocktail that always produced positive results. 

But today was above everything else. 

It started when he’d woken up in Mattie’s bed. Not only that, but they had been cuddling. 

Which was one of the nicest thing he’d ever experienced, but also very unexpected. Like an idiot, he’d chosen to stay until she woke up too, and didn’t move. 

And he took his sweet time to look at her, to take in how relaxed she was, with a soft smile on her lips. She was warm in his arms, soft. He would give anything to wake up like that again. 

And when she did wake up, after the minute it took her to realize, she had apologized to him, about not waking him up the night before, about pretty much sleeping on top of him, and about a dozen more things he didn’t mind and rather liked. 

And he handled it like a pro, not only managing to make her think he didn’t like it, but also that he had been uncomfortable with the whole situation. 

Which he was, but not for the reason she had in mind. 

So now, it was weird between them. Like they didn’t know what would be the one word too many. He was racking his brain to find a way to tell her while also having a way to back down, and she was mostly staying silent. 

She’d spent the day on homework, mostly with music on so they didn’t have too much occasions to talk anyway. 

And now, it was stupidly late again. 

Way past midnight, probably past 1 AM too. They’d been on her bed, like usually, maybe a little farther apart than usual. 

He’d never noticed it. How close they always were. 

He knew she was constantly cold and even when the weather was really nice she was wearing more layers than anyone else in the house. Even him. 

She often had a blanket on at least her feet, and late at night, when it got cold, he would steal a bit of it. She didn’t mind, never said anything. Of course that meant he’d get closer. She liked to put her really cold hands on his arm or on his neck, and often smiled at the little shock it always was for him. He didn’t mind, he liked the fact that she felt comfortable enough to do that. 

When he first arrived, he saw the way Laura looked at him. Like he was broken. Like she had to be extra careful with him, as if a wrong word could break him.She didn’t mean to hurt him, she was probably not even aware of it. But he didn’t want to be pitied. 

Mattie hadn’t done that. 

Things had been awkward for a couple hours, with everyone around changing the dynamic they previously had. But they quickly settled into a new rhythm. Spending pretty much all their time awake together. They worked on the code. The made cakes. They watched movies and discussed them. 

Until today. 

It hadn’t been the same, and he already missed it so much. 

He hadn’t realized how close they were always standing until she shuffled back a little when he got to close earlier. He hadn’t realized how much he valued her opinion until he wanted to ask her a simple formatting question and didn’t have the guts to bother her and face her uncertain stare. He hadn’t realized how much she meant to him. 

_ I’m an idiot.  _

_ And idiot in love.  _

He’d prevented himself from thinking about for so long that the thought almost made him choke. 

It wasn’t like he never had a crush before. He was only human. But he never had the occasion to get close to someone like that. No one ever let him. No one ever trusted him as much as she did, letting him invade their life and change everything. 

And he trusted her too. He would put is life in her hands without a second thought. He pretty much had done that already. And he had no regret about it. Not a single one. 

He looked at her. Really looked at her. Focusing on her work, mouthing along to the song she was listening to, and pushing back her hair that kept falling in her face. How soft it looked, and how much he would have loved to play with it. 

As if she felt him look at her, she looked up from her screen, their eyes meeting and his breath catching. How had he ignored it for so long? Was he really getting so good at ignoring his feelings that he ignored even the positive ones? 

Maybe he didn’t need a way to back track. Maybe it was fine if he just confessed and told her how he felt. And if she didn’t feel the same, he would be fine. He could keep his feelings to himself, it would change the way he was with her. Surely she could understand that and not be too uncomfortable? 

Or maybe she would be. Maybe he would ruin everything. All the friendship, the good memories and the warm feelings. 

But he’d done that already. If the day that had just passed was any indication, things were broken between them. 

Silently, he closed his laptop, and put it on the floor, laying down next to her. She was watching him with curiosity, but didn’t push him away, only removing her headphones. 

\- What are you working on? 

\- Just homework. Are you tired? 

\- No I’m fine. What’s it about? 

She didn’t voice her questions, but he knew she had many. It wasn’t his usual behavior. She was the one who always took the first step, and he was always grateful. But with how sick she looked when she thought about the fact that he didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as her this morning, he had to take a first step for once. 

A big first step, but still. 

\- Well, we’re supposed to make a social media campaign for a product or brand of our choice. Half the class is doing persona, a good third is doing whatever laptop they have, so I asked if I could do baking stuff. Teacher loved it, and now here I am, making cute little baking ads. I really have a problem with baking lately… 

\- Honestly no one is going to complain about the fact that you make one delicious cake after the other. 

She laughed, but didn’t comment. It was true, her cakes were always really good. 

\- I’m planning on making a contest, and then you win a visit to the bakery of the brand. Or a workshop. Probably a workshop because it’s nicer when you learn and not just see. 

He hummed and she kept typing on her document, listing the steps of the campaign. This wasn’t something he would have enjoyed doing. He was never really good at convincing people to buy something or be interested in a brand. He just didn’t see the point. Once you got what you needed from a shop or a website, what was the point in following them? But then again, he never had a lot of money to spare, so it wasn’t like he could just order something because he’d been tempted to. 

He frowned. Maybe he should try to find a job, he knew Laura had absolutely refused they pay any of the bills as long as they did their share of the chores, but still. They couldn’t just stay there rent free forever, something would have to happen eventually. 

Maybe he could work in a shop somewhere? Or would people still be likely to recognize him?

*

It felt like nothing had changed. 

And yet, everything was different. 

Despite the situation and how embarrassed she was, Mattie was deeply aware of Leo slowly dozing of beside her. 

He’d suddenly stopped working, and just laid there. She thought he would be going to his room as soon as possible, but he hadn’t. For a reason she didn’t understand, he had stayed there, made himself comfortable next to her, and was now even stroking the side of her leg with his hand, probably not even aware of it. 

He did that sometimes, and it caught her breath every time. She didn’t say anything. She liked it and knew he would stop if she mentioned it.

But now he was falling asleep and she was almost done with her work. Ready to go to sleep. Alone this time. 

She had one of the best night in a long time. No weird dream, no waking up with a funny feeling because someone died or said something mean in a nightmare. She felt good, rested. She felt like everyone was supposed to feel when they were waking up after a good night of sleep. 

And she knew it was because they had slept together in the same bed. 

_ Not slept together. Same word. Different thing. _

But when she had woken up, after realizing and looking at him, the reality hit her in the face. He hadn’t chose to be there. She hadn’t done anything the night before and he woke up in this situation, uncomfortable as hell, not even daring to move despite the look on his face. 

It broke her heart. 

And yet, there was nothing she could do. 

And now he was asleep again, and she would have to wake him up and face him and it was so hard. 

She briefly considered going into another room for the night. It would spare her from a very uncomfortable discussion. 

But in the end she’d have to talk to him anyway so might as well do it now and suffer for the night instead of the day. 

Surely she could find something to keep her mind busy and avoid sleep. It was always what worked best. No opportunity to overthink or cry for too long. Just something to focus on and get lost in. When she was a kid it used to be books, and now it was work. 

She slowly put her laptop on the floor, trying not to wake him for some reason. She couldn’t just fall asleep next to him again, but at the same time he looked so peaceful. 

Just like he did the day before. And yet, it hadn’t really brought her any good things. 

It would be easy going to sleep now. She was wearing some soft pyjamas and fuzzy socks, the bed was warm and welcoming, and Leo left her the perfect amount of space to just curl up next to him and enjoy a dreamless sleep. 

_ Everything I can never have.  _

He stirred and she gently shook him, trying to wake him up without stressing him out. he probably had his fair share of it already. 

\- Leo, you should go to your room.

He mumbled something into the blanket that she didn’t understand. 

She moved closer, almost lying on top of him. She felt her face get hot when she realized how easy it would be for him to just turn his face and kiss her. 

_ Not like that would ever happen you idiot. _

\- What did you say? 

\- I wanna sleep here again. If you’re ok. 

Her brain took its sweet time registering the words he just said and understanding them. She heard them fine but somehow couldn’t associate a meaning to it. 

\- Sure. It’s fine. It’s cool. 

Her face felt even hotter than before, and she silently prayed that he didn’t open his eyes. 

Changing her plans, she closed her laptop and tuned of the light, laying down next to him.

Not too close, but not too far either. Just in case he reached for her. 

Which he did. 

Her brain blanked again, and she wondered if she’d already fell asleep and this was just a nice dream. A really, really nice dream judging by the way he scooted closer and tentatively put his arm around her. Just like they had been the night before, but facing each other this time. 

\- I like you. 

She stayed silent for what felt like forever. 

\- I like you too. I’m glad you all came here. 

He sighed and held her a little bit tighter. Her heart could have stopped if she wasn’t so damn stressed by what was happening. Why was he saying that ? Was he aware of what it could mean? God he would kill her some day. 

\- No I mean… I like you as more than a friend. It’s okay if you don’t, I just don’t want to hide it from you anymore. 

She didn’t even have words to describe how she currently felt. She could have ran a marathon that her heart wouldn’t beat any faster. 

It felt like everything was spinning a little bit, but the world was frozen in time. 

\- For real? 

\- Yes. 

They looked at each other, trying to guess what the other was thinking, feeling. Assessing the situation and the possibilities of what could happen next. 

Then she decided that  _ fuck it _ , might as well enjoy it. 

So she leaned forward and kissed him. 

At first it felt like he froze, not responding, and she almost backed away in a panic, before he caught himself and kissed her back. 

Than everything kind of blurred together into a wonderfully warm feeling of happiness. 

After what felt like both a second and forever, she pulled away, a little breathless. He was looking at her with soft eyes but also a hint of fear, almost expecting her to push him away. 

\- Well I can’t say I expected that. 

He smiled and she couldn’t resist kissing him again. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last real chapter! The next one is just to give some more info on the future of everyone and what they're doing :) I hope you enjoyed this story ! I had a lot of fun writing it and even if I'm not that proud of it anymore I think it was a big step in my ability to complete a project. Maybe I'll write some original things next? Who knows...


	18. Chapter 18

\- What do you mean you’re going to fail? Don’t worry Sophie, I’ve seen you train since I’ve been here and you’re a great dancer.

Leo ruffled the little girls hair, trying to come up with something reassuring. He hadn’t expected her to have a breakdown right as he was taking her to her dance last dance lesson before the recital.

She had gotten a lot better, and she knew all the choreography. He did too, after seeing so many times. 

\- I’ll tell you what, if you do a bad job, I’ll do something stupid so people look at me instead. But since you won’t do a bad job I won’t have to look like an idiot, alright? 

She smiled, and he hoped for the best. 

*

\- You think it’s time?

\- Well, we went through everything several times, we don’t really have another choice. 

They looked at each other, and then at the door leading to the basement. 

The code was ready, it was true, but they weren’t. They had no idea if they solved the problems, if they broke anything, if it was going to go smoothly or not. 

But they had to try. 

So they got to work, bringin Fred to the living room and plugging the key, watching intently the different light go on and off in a sequence that confirmed the transfer. 

Now they had to leave him to charge overnight, and hope for the best. 

They did all they could.

*

Mattie woke up to the wonderful sight of Leo sleeping peacefully. 

If he hadn’t been stealing all the blanket, it would have been perfect. 

She looked at the roof window and estimated that it must be about 6 am. So much time left to sleep and cuddle. 

She moved closer to Leo, gripping the blanket to make sure she got some. He moved and reached for her, trapping her under his arm. 

She didn’t mind a single bit. 

*

\- It’s not a big university but I think it would be a good starting point. 

\- So that’s where you want to go? Sure? 

\- Yeah. I’ve applied with all my best work. I really hope they think my work is good. 

Laura looked at her daughter, who was mindlessly playing with her hair with one hand, and scrolling through her application with the other. She was stressed, but she knew she put her best work and there wasn’t anything left to do other than wait. 

Laura wasn’t worried about Mattie, she’d get into any college she wanted, after doing so much during high school. She wasn’t perfect, but she was doing her best every day. And she wouldn’t be alone. 

\- Did Leo finished his application too? 

\- Yeah, sent it yesterday.

*

\- Look, look, it’s blue, it means it’s finished right? 

They all rushed to Fred’s side, who was all done charging. 

Silently praying to every single deity out there, Leo reached out his hand and tapped lightly under his chin. 

Slowly, the synth turned on, everyone looking at him with high hopes. 

He looked around at the gathering, and his eyes filled with life as he took it all in. 

\- What happened? 

*

\- Do you think Mia will get tired of her before it dries? I hope she doesn’t send her here. I want an evening of peace I already spent the day with her. 

Leo rubbed Mattie’s back, smiling at her complaints. She had enjoyed the afternoon with Sophie a lot more than she would ever admit. 

The ceiling of Sophie’s room had been painting with beautiful clouds in varying shades of white, pink and yellow by a local artist named Paulina. It was Mattie’s gift for her sister’s birthday. She wouldn’t be allowed to see it until the next day, and could barely contain her excitement over the matter. 

For a moment, Mattie scrolled on her phone, through the various photos of food she’s posted on her instagram recently. It was her current passion, and she even started teaching him how to cook. Laura had been delighted, especially since they would be living together in college and they both knew Mattie couldn’t be the only one responsible for cooking. 

He wondered how exactly everything had happened. 

Just a few months ago he was hiding in a derelict castle worth over a million pound, and soon he would be living in a small apartment with his girlfriend. 

It felt surreal, but he’d never been so happy. 

He had a new identity, new opportunities, and everything he barely let himself wish for all those months ago, in the cold and dark, wondering what his life would be made of. 

It wasn’t like anything he’d ever known, and it was a million times more exciting than anything he’d ever lived before. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed posting a few times so.. Sorry! Sometimes life gets in the way and sometimes I forget. Still, I hope you had a good time reading it, maybe as much as I did writing it. I don't know if I'll write for this pairing or this show ever again, but maybe! Now I'm gonna go work on some other projects, mostly school related. Have a good day/night wherever yo uare in the world :)


End file.
